Lloyd Baker is joining us on AZ Daily to discuss what a wrongful death is in Arizona, who can file a claim, and who can seek compensation. At Lloyd Baker Injury Attorneys, we understand the emotional and financial challenges that someone faces after a wrongful death. When you are recovering from losing your loved one, legal proceedings are the last thing on your mind. However, a wrongful death lawsuit is often the best way for you to recover your financial losses. We understand how painful this experience is, and we’re prepared to fight your case so that you can focus on healing. To discover how we can assist you, reach out to us at BakerWins.com or call us today at 602-265-5555.
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00:00 When it comes to accidents, there is one claim that is hard to do and to know if you can
00:05 claim it, and that's a wrongful death claim.
00:08 And here to help us understand this claim is injury lawyer and attorney Lloyd Baker.
00:12 Good morning.
00:13 Good morning.
00:14 How are you, sir?
00:15 This is very important to talk about, and also it's something that people don't want
00:18 to talk about, and that is wrongful death claims.
00:22 And so what is a wrongful death claim so people can understand that?
00:26 It's like negligence, right?
00:27 So if you have a catastrophic injury and somebody else is negligent, then that person has a
00:34 claim for wrongful death.
00:36 So basically the heirs, okay?
00:38 So basically you have two different things.
00:40 You have the heirs and you have the estate.
00:42 And so it's sad because the number one thing is the empathy that we give our clients is
00:47 just -- that's super important because they're going through a rough time.
00:49 But then they wonder, you know, how can I really get help?
00:52 And what are the damages for such an accident?
00:57 And so we walk them through it.
00:59 We take really good care of them.
01:01 And we say, hey, you know, on the one side you've got the claim that the estate has,
01:07 which is like your medical bills and funeral expenses and things like that, right?
01:13 And then on the other side you have the human aspect of it, which is sadly the family and
01:18 the heirs.
01:19 So a child can make a claim, a parent can make a claim, and a child, parent, and there's
01:29 one other one.
01:30 >> Spouse.
01:31 >> Spouse, yeah.
01:32 So the spouse can make a claim.
01:33 So -- and what are their claims?
01:36 It's a lot of grief, loss of support.
01:39 >> Loss of income, too, if that's the personal way.
01:43 >> Yeah.
01:44 So people don't realize that because, you know, a child, a lot of times the child loses
01:47 a parent, right?
01:48 >> Yeah.
01:49 >> So, yeah, how's that child going to be taking care for the rest of its life, right?
01:53 So there's things that are really difficult in this time as far as to talk about it, but
01:58 it's so important because things happen.
02:01 >> So let me ask you, if the person who passed away in this accident had life insurance,
02:06 does that stop you from making a claim or can you still go make a wrongful death claim?
02:10 >> So that's just an aspect of it, and you can still make a claim.
02:13 Good question.
02:14 >> Yeah, because that's where people probably go, well, the insurance paid for it, I don't
02:16 need to go, but it's important to do that.
02:19 So now you just said there's certain people that can make those claims.
02:21 Can everybody go make that claim, the spouse, the children, you know, grandparents, everybody,
02:26 or is it just one person in the heirs that can go make that claim?
02:29 >> So they can all make, they all have their separate claim, but there's just one suit,
02:33 basically.
02:34 >> Right.
02:35 >> And so it's all under one umbrella, and then at the end of the day, then it's divided
02:38 up between the heirs.
02:39 >> Right.
02:40 >> So, and you know, you always get a lot of questions like, you know, what if we're
02:44 just friends, what if we're just, you know, brothers and sisters of this decedent, stuff
02:49 like that.
02:50 >> Right.
02:51 >> Unfortunately, in Arizona, they can't make a claim, but they can as far as the estate's
02:55 concerned, right?
02:56 >> Got it.
02:57 So they can go into the estate part of it, and that will be the claim.
02:59 So that's what you need to understand.
03:01 >> So they're two separate things, really, and so.
03:03 >> Do you recommend people to, I mean, I know you talk with them, but do you want them all
03:07 to go underneath the estate, or should they do the heirs, or do two separate ones?
03:11 >> Do two separate.
03:12 >> Two separate.
03:13 >> Yeah, I mean, a lot of times, to tell you the truth, I just try to help the heirs, because
03:17 the estate sometimes, you know, it really depends on how, if they did get some hospital
03:22 visit before they passed, or that kind of stuff, did they really incur, you know, some
03:27 expenses, or was it kind of a sudden kind of a thing.
03:32 So it just really kind of depends, but mostly we're there for the heirs, but we do help
03:36 the estate at some extent, but it's, and it gets actually filtered to the heirs, too,
03:42 once that's all taken care of.
03:44 So that money actually goes, ends up in the heirs' pockets.
03:48 >> And so people don't understand, too, like when we talk about accidents, we're usually
03:51 talking about car accidents, or, you know, something like that, but this is an accident
03:54 at work, or on vacation, or anything like that, that someone else was negligent in doing.
04:00 >> And so it's, you know, and it's basically the law allows it, any time it's anywhere
04:04 more than 51%, so a preponderance of the evidence is what they call it, so if it's over 51%
04:10 fault, they can recover.
04:13 And so, you know, it happens a lot, a lot of different situations, like you said, car,
04:18 trucks, motorcycle accidents, but also slip and falls have had it happen, I've had it
04:21 happen, you know, medical negligence, things like that, where it's just really sad that
04:25 people lose a loved one.
04:27 >> So let me, there was a question I wanted to make sure people understood, too, and that
04:32 was having insurance the other way now.
04:35 So say, for instance, I am a business, can I have wrongful death accident insurance on
04:40 me?
04:41 Is there something like that?
04:42 >> It's kind of the same thing, but good question.
04:45 It's liability insurance, so as a business owner, I have liability insurance, so in case
04:49 somebody gets hurt on my premises, or somebody's driving one of my cars and hurts somebody,
04:54 then, you know, that will take care of it for the firm.
04:57 >> Right.
04:58 >> So, yeah, it's the same thing.
04:59 >> Wow, this is so important stuff, I know it's very hard for people to talk about, but
05:02 that's why you guys are there for them to help them walk them through it.
05:06 >> Absolutely.
05:07 >> And again, it's Lloyd Baker and his team there, information's right on the screen to
05:11 find out more about, again, any type of accident you need to deal with, he's there for you.
05:16 >> Appreciate that.
05:17 >> Thank you very much.
05:18 >> Thank you.
05:19 >> Stay right there, I want to talk to you some more.
05:19 >> Absolutely.
05:20 >> Thank you.
05:20 [ Silence ]