An important aspect of a wrongful death cause of action is identifying the surviving beneficiaries of the decedent. It is crucial to have an experienced West Palm Beach wrongful death attorney to handle any extensive pre-suit investigation to identify all of the survivors. In this article we will discuss the surviving spouse, parents, blood relatives, and adoptive brothers and sisters as survivors of the decedent. The survivorship role of the decedent’s children will be treated in a separate article.

Under Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, the decedent’s statutory survivors are considered to be the spouse, children, parents, any blood relatives, and adoptive brothers and sisters. When determining if there is a surviving spouse, a Florida wrongful death attorney should verify that the spouse was legally married to the decedent, by obtaining marriage certificates and divorce decrees for any previous marriages. The decedent’s surviving spouse may recover for mental pain and suffering and the loss of the decedent’s support, services, companionship, and protection. The wrongful death attorney should also consider that the survivor is determined by the survivorship at the time of the decedent’s death. For example, if a husband and wife die as a result of the same accident or incident, the spouse that dies later is the survivor.

The parents of the decedent are considered survivors and may recover damages as the result of the decedent’s death. This includes the parents of an illegitimate child and adoptive parents. However, stepparents who have not formally adopted the child will not be able to recover damages. Additionally, grandparents without a legal guardianship are not considered survivors and will not recover damages. Any other blood relative or adopted sibling of a decedent may also recover certain economic damages if he or she can demonstrate actual dependency. Finally, the personal representative may recover economic damages on behalf of the estate. Recoverable damages include loss of earnings, loss of prospective net accumulations of the estate, and medical or funeral expenses.

Anyone with a wrongful death action should only hire an experienced West Palm Beach wrongful death attorney that can handle the many complexities that can arise in such cases.