Partial Fault Wrongful Death Claim

Answer:

In the state of Florida, in a wrongful death action, even if the decedent is partially responsible for causing his own death, the family may still be successful in bringing a wrongful death action and recovering damages. The type of negligence on the part of the decedent is a factor that has to be considered. For example, if your loved one passed and was involved in a motor vehicle accident or some other kind of accident where intoxication was a factor and they’re more than 50% responsible, then there are no recoverable damages under the law in Florida. In other cases, if intoxication is not the issue but the decedent is partially responsible for otherwise causing the accident, then the jury would be asked, and along the way before any trial, we would evaluate the conduct of the decedent. What happens is we as the plaintiffs and the personal representative of the estate is responsible for establishing the negligence of the at fault party. That conduct gets compared to the conduct of the decedent if there’s any partial negligence on the part of the decedent. A jury compares the two and puts a percentage on the at fault party we assert is responsible and then a percentage on the decedent if those are the facts. It doesn’t mean that you’re completely barred from bringing an action btu those are factors that have to be considered in evaluating a wrongful death claim.