NO FEE UNLESS WE WIN
Rockford Wrongful Death Lawyer
Losing a loved one to an accidental death can cause a family emotional pain and suffering, as well as extreme financial hardship. The emotional burden of the loss can make it very difficult to move forward and deal with the aftermath. You need trusted legal guidance from a knowledgeable Rockford attorney who understands the ordeal that you and your family are experiencing. Attorney Paul Marriett lost a family member to an auto-related accident that caused a fatality on an interstate highway when a vehicle became disabled and sent a heavy piece of semi-trailer equipment back into traffic, ultimately striking the driver of a passenger vehicle and causing an unexpected accident and fatality.
Who May Bring Suit?
Illinois law specifies who can file a wrongful death lawsuit and when they are able to do so. The Illinois Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180/1) states that living spouses and next of kin may recover compensation for the wrongful death of their loved one.
What Compensation Am I Entitled To?
The Illinois Wrongful Death Act provides that jurors “may give such damages as they shall deem fair and just compensation with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from such a death, including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering, to the spouse and next of kin of such deceased person” (740 ILCS 180/2). If proceeds are to be divided amongst multiple family members, the court will conduct a hearing to discover the degree to which each family member was dependent on the decedent.
Illinois Time Limits on Filing Suit
Illinois sets a time limit of two years to file a personal injury lawsuit in the state’s civil court system. In most cases, this two-year time limit, known as a “statute of limitations,” begins to run on the date of the accident. Sometimes, however, a statute of limitations might run from the date that you discovered you were injured, rather than the date of the event that injured you. This later date is known as a “discovery date.”
For injury claims against a city or county, you have one year to file a lawsuit. The time limit to sue the state is generally two years, but you must file a formal claim within one year in order to sue.
A qualified personal injury attorney can help guide you through this difficult time and alleviate some of the stress.
Fatal car, truck, and motorcycle accidents in the Rockford area
Most of the wrongful death cases we handle begin with a crash: a head-on collision on a two-lane county road, a semi on I-90, a motorcyclist struck by a left-turning driver, a pedestrian hit on North Main or East State. The family is dealing with a funeral, a police investigation, and sometimes a criminal case against the other driver, all at once. Our job is to take the legal side off their plate.
Two claims, not one. Illinois law gives a family two separate claims after a fatal accident. The Wrongful Death Act (740 ILCS 180) compensates the surviving spouse and next of kin for what they lost: financial support, and since 2007, their grief, sorrow, and mental suffering. The Survival Act (755 ILCS 5/27-6) preserves the claim the person would have had if they lived, which covers conscious pain and suffering between the crash and death, medical bills, and lost wages up to the date of death. Both are brought by the personal representative of the estate, which usually means opening a probate estate in Winnebago County; we handle that step.
How the recovery is divided. Wrongful death proceeds go to the spouse and next of kin in proportion to their dependency on the deceased, as determined by the court; they are not part of the probate estate and are not reachable by the deceased’s creditors. Survival Act proceeds pass through the estate.
When the other driver is charged. A DUI, reckless homicide, or aggravated DUI charge creates evidence for the civil case: the crash reconstruction, blood results, and any plea or conviction. The criminal case does not pay the family anything, and restitution orders are rarely collectible. The civil case is where the family’s recovery comes from, and it proceeds on its own schedule. If a bar over-served the driver, the Illinois Dram Shop Act adds a claim against the bar with its own one-year deadline.
Deadline. Two years from the date of death for both the Wrongful Death and Survival claims; one year if a city, county, or other local government body is a defendant. If the death resulted from a crime of violence, Illinois extends the deadline to five years, or one year from the end of the criminal case, whichever is later.
We handle fatal crash cases throughout Winnebago, Boone, and Stephenson County, and we’ve resolved them against individual drivers, trucking companies, and their insurers. There is no fee unless there is a recovery.
Contact a Lawyer You Can Trust
For a confidential, compassionate, in-depth, free, and, most importantly, thorough consultation with a Rockford Personal Injury Lawyer about a wrongful death-related accident case in Rockford, Belvidere, Freeport, Rochelle, Oregon, Loves Park, Byron, Machesney Park, Roscoe, Rockton, or elsewhere in the State of Illinois, call or text message us at (815) 391-0089, or e-mail us 24/7/365. We offer in-office consultations, and routinely make visits to clients’ homes, hospital rooms, nursing homes, and other off-site locations to make retaining our services as easy as possible.