Arizona’s Wrongful Death statute outlines exactly what a party or beneficially is entitled to receive in the case of a wrongful death case. Wrongful death can be claimed when a person dies as a result of the legal fault of another person.
Jury Rulings on Wrongful Death Cases
A jury ruling on a wrongful death case is typically instructed to award damages to beneficiaries as it deems fair and just. And generally, a beneficiary will recover a monetary award. The amount recovered by a wrongful death is not subject to any debts or liabilities of the deceased unless the action has been brought on behalf of the deceased’s estate.
Types of Damages
Various types of damages can be recovered in a wrongful death claim. What you file for will be dependent on the circumstances of the case. Here is a list of damages you can claim:
- Punitive Damages
- Loss of love, affection, companionship, care, protection, and guidance since the death and in the future.
- Pain, grief, sorrow, anguish, stress, shock, and mental suffering already experienced, and reasonably probable to be experienced in the future.
- Income and services that have been lost as a result of the death, and that are reasonably probable to be experienced in the future.
- Reasonable expenses of funeral and burial.
- Reasonable expenses of necessary medical care and services for the injury that resulted in the death.
Recovering Legal Damages
In order to legally recover damages in a wrongful death action, there are some general requirements that must be met. They are as follows: (1) The death must have been caused by another’s negligence, i.e., it must be showed that the negligent person was at fault for the death; (2) if the deceased was alive, he or she would have been entitled to recover damages from the at fault party; and (3) the party or beneficiaries must meet the legal requirements to be allowed recovery of damages in the Wrongful Death action.
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