Steve Scott

Attorney at Law

Serving Landlords, Individuals
and Small Businesses

Vanessa Reynolds

Legal Assistant

 


 

Under Missouri law the survivors of a person who died as a result of someone else's fault have the right to pursue a claim for what is called "wrongful death."

Scott Law Firm handles most wrongful death cases on a contingent fee basis, which means that our fee for legal services is a percentage of the amount of money recovered. In contingent fee cases, if no money is recovered, no fee will be charged, but our client will still be responsible for expenses we paid. With regard to our contingent fee arrangements, we are required by Missouri Supreme Court rule to provide the following notice: WHEN LEGAL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON A CONTINGENT FEE BASIS, THE CLIENT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR COSTS AND EXPENSES.

We evaluate wrongful death cases at no charge to prospective clients. If the prospective client decides to retain us on a contingent fee basis, we are required by Missouri Supreme Court rule to enter into a written fee agreement before commencing work. We must review the specifics of a particular case before deciding the appropriate contingent fee percentage. Factors we consider include:

The degree of liability of the potential defendant
The possible contributory fault of the deceased person in causing his or her death
The availability of evidence, including neutral witnesses, police reports, and medical reports
The availability of insurance

It is important to note that under Missouri law, while most bodily injury cases can be filed in court up to five years after the occurrence that caused the injury, a wrongful death case must be filed within three years after the death or it will be forever barred.

The general discussion of fault under the heading "Liability overview" on the main injury death page applies to wrongful death cases.

There are three potential classes of persons entitled to pursue a wrongful death claim and file a wrongful death lawsuit:

Class 1 includes the deceased person's spouse; the children or the surviving lineal descendants of any deceased children, natural or adopted, legitimate or illegitimate, of the deceased person; and/or the father and mother of the deceased person, whether natural or adoptive. If one or more persons exist in this group, any one or more of them has the right to pursue the wrongful death claim to the exclusion of any person in Class 2.
If there are no persons in Class 1, then a wrongful death claim can be pursued by any persons in Class 2, who are the brothers and sisters of the deceased person, or their descendants, to the exclusion of Class 3.
If there are no persons in either Class 1 or Class 2, then Class 3 consists of a so-called "plaintiff ad litem" appointed by the court to pursue the wrongful death claim.

While any one or more of the persons in a class entitled to recover for a wrongful death may pursue the claim, Missouri law provides that the claim is pursued on behalf of all persons who exist in the class entitled to pursue the claim, and, ultimately, any settlement or judgment must be divided among all persons in that class according to their respective losses as determined by the court.

If a wrongful death claim goes to trial, a jury will determine the amount of damages based on the following factors:

Monetary losses suffered by the claimants as a result of the death
Funeral expenses
The reasonable value of the services, companionship, comfort, instruction, guidance, counsel, training and support the claimants lost as a result of the death
Damages such as pain and suffering the deceased person suffered between the time of injury and time of death
Mitigating and aggravating circumstances connected with the death

However, Missouri law specifically prohibits awarding damages for grief and bereavement resulting from the death.

Scott Law Firm’s process for handling wrongful death cases is similar to that involved in bodily injury claims. See the "Bodily Injury" page for details.

 

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