West Palm Beach Wrongful Death Lawyer
When someone you love is killed by another person's negligence in West Palm Beach, Florida's Wrongful Death Act gives your family the right to hold the responsible party accountable. The lawsuit is filed by the personal representative of your loved one's estate on behalf of the surviving family, and it must be filed within two years. I'm Shannon Sagan. I handle these cases personally, with the seriousness they deserve. No fee unless I win, and no pressure. Just answers, starting with a free private consultation.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Florida
Florida channels the entire claim through one lawsuit, filed by the estate's personal representative. That person is usually named in the will, or appointed by the court if there isn't one. The claim is brought for the survivors the law recognizes: the surviving spouse, children, parents, and any blood relatives or adoptive siblings who depended on the deceased for support. Who recovers what depends on the family structure, and it matters enormously. It's one of the first things I map out in a consultation.
What Compensation Florida Allows
Survivors can recover the value of lost support and services, loss of companionship and guidance, and, for a surviving spouse and children, mental pain and suffering. The estate can separately recover medical and funeral expenses and the earnings your loved one would have accumulated. No settlement replaces a person. What it does is take the financial devastation off a grieving family's shoulders and put the cost of the negligence where it belongs.
Why Evidence Decides These Cases
Here is the hard truth about a fatal crash case, the person with the most important testimony can't give it. The insurance company knows that. Fatal crash defenses lean into it, blaming the one person who isn't there to answer.
That's why video changes everything in a wrongful death case. Dash cam footage. Commercial vehicle cameras. Traffic and business surveillance. Event data recorders. I move immediately to preserve all of it, because it speaks when your loved one can't. I built my entire practice on the principle that footage beats finger-pointing. Nowhere does that matter more than here.
Fatal Crashes in Palm Beach County
The corridors I see again and again: I-95 through West Palm Beach. Okeechobee Boulevard. Southern Boulevard. Military Trail. And the truck routes connecting the coast to the Glades, US-27 and 441, where commercial traffic meets rural roads. Trucking cases demand the fastest action of all. Federal rules limit how long carriers keep driver logs and electronic data, and defense teams sometimes reach the scene within hours of a fatal wreck. Your lawyer should be moving just as fast.
The Two-Year Deadline
Florida allows two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit, with narrow exceptions. Two years sounds like a long time. It isn't. Estates must be opened. Personal representatives appointed. Evidence preserved. Experts retained. Families who wait often lose leverage they never knew they had. There is no cost and no obligation to simply find out where you stand.
Call The Dash Cam Lawyer® at 561-561-DASH (3274). Free private consultation. No fee unless I win. Offices in Palm Springs and Belle Glade, serving West Palm Beach and all of Palm Beach County.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida?
Only the personal representative of the deceased's estate, but the claim is brought on behalf of the surviving family: spouse, children, parents, and dependent relatives. If no personal representative has been appointed yet, I help families through that process.
How long do we have to file?
Two years from the date of death in most cases. Building the case takes months of groundwork, so families should talk to a lawyer well before the deadline gets close.
What is a wrongful death case worth in Florida?
It depends on the survivors' relationship to the deceased, the deceased's age and income, and the strength of the liability evidence. Any lawyer quoting a figure before investigating is guessing. I don't guess.
The insurance company already made an offer. Do we still need a lawyer?
Early offers in fatal cases are almost always priced on a family's grief and unfamiliarity with what the law allows. Have the offer reviewed before anyone signs. A release ends the claim forever, for every survivor.
What if my loved one was partly at fault for the crash?
Florida's comparative fault rules reduce recovery by the deceased's share of fault, and bar recovery above 50%. This is exactly where video and physical evidence matter most. Fault percentages are argued, not fixed.
Does a criminal case or ticket affect the civil claim?
They're separate. A civil wrongful death claim can proceed whether or not charges are filed, and it uses a lower burden of proof.