wrongful death

First of all, if there is already a lawsuit filed by your grandparents, I assume they have a lawyer, and you should be asking him this question. Are you being left out of the loop?

In any event, the Florida wrongful death statute (which I have reproduced below) provides for each surviving child to recover for loss of support and services of their parent. You, your brother and sister should all be named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, and you all may potentially recover according to the degree you received financial benefit of your mother.

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768.21 Damages.--All potential beneficiaries of a recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate, shall be identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows:

(1) Each survivor may recover the value of lost support and services from the date of the decedent's injury to her or his death, with interest, and future loss of support and services from the date of death and reduced to present value. In evaluating loss of support and services, the survivor's relationship to the decedent, the amount of the decedent's probable net income available for distribution to the particular survivor, and the replacement value of the decedent's services to the survivor may be considered. In computing the duration of future losses, the joint life expectancies of the survivor and the decedent and the period of minority, in the case of healthy minor children, may be considered.

(2) The surviving spouse may also recover for loss of the decedent's companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.

(3) Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may also recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. For the purposes of this subsection, if both spouses die within 30 days of one another as a result of the same wrongful act or series of acts arising out of the same incident, each spouse is considered to have been predeceased by the other.

(4) Each parent of a deceased minor child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.

(5) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent's injury or death may be recovered by a survivor who has paid them.

(6) The decedent's personal representative may recover for the decedent's estate the following:

(a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors excluding contributions in kind, with interest. Loss of the prospective net accumulations of an estate, which might reasonably have been expected but for the wrongful death, reduced to present money value, may also be recovered:

1. If the decedent's survivors include a surviving spouse or lineal descendants; or

2. If the decedent is not a minor child as defined in s. 768.18(2), there are no lost support and services recoverable under subsection (1), and there is a surviving parent.

(b) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent's injury or death that have become a charge against her or his estate or that were paid by or on behalf of decedent, excluding amounts recoverable under subsection (5).

(c) Evidence of remarriage of the decedent's spouse is admissible.

(7) All awards for the decedent's estate are subject to the claims of creditors who have complied with the requirements of probate law concerning claims.

(8) The damages specified in subsection (3) shall not be recoverable by adult children and the damages specified in subsection (4) shall not be recoverable by parents of an adult child.

You have a right to speak to and hire your own attorney since you are 18 and are considered a Plaintiff Beneficiary regarding your mother's potential wrongful death claim. You can hire your own counsel who would be in the best position to let you know the value of your claims and I would highly recommend you speak to someone to represent your betst interests.

Having tried a case under Florida law not too long ago, I've faced dealt with the problems that arise in instances of wrongful death. I expect that the major problem will be that there simply is far too little money to render any real justice for anybody.

You need to understand that unless you have signed the contract with the lawyer that represents your grandparents, that lawyer does not represent you, your brother, or your sister.

So, the answer is: sue for everything that is available; and make sure that, if you've not already signed a contract with your grandparents' attorney, that you find one to represent the three of you separately. Having spent a few years of my youth in St. Petersburg, I know that there are several good ones locally and nationwide who can help.

Florida law is specific about who brings wrongful death cases and who has claims. Only minor children (under 25 for this purpose under Fla. Wrongful Death Act) and surviving spouses have claims for mental pain and suffering in wrongful death cases. You and your younger brother clearly fall into that category. Your older sister and grandparents may have claims for lost support and services. You need to find out if there was a will which expressed a preference as to who was to be the personal representative of the Estate of your mother. The personal representative brings the case on behalf of all the legal survivors. You or your siblings might have preference to be the personal representative. In any case you should hire or consult an attorney to see what your rights are. Make sure a thorough investigation is done to determine the extent of responsibility for this tragedy, as well as to see what insurance and financial responsibility exists. Often here in Florida, the value of the case is determined by the amount of insurance (and sadly usually there is a real lack of available insurance coverage). Please get grief counseling to help you through this loss, which will be long lasting and affect every aspect of your life.

First of all I am sorry for your loss. If I am correct in reading your email, your father is either not alive or was not married to your mother at the time of the accident. Accordingly, the only persons entitled to recover for your mother"s death are you and your siblings. Each of you has a claim for pain and suffering, lost parental consortium and the value of lost economic support if any of your were dependent on her for that type of support. Unfortunately, without knowing more about about your individual repationships with your mother and whether she supported any of you financially, your question can't be answered. However, generally speaking the more survivors, e.g. children, the greater the amount that should be sued for.

I am sorry for your loss of your mother at such a young age. You have not mentioned your father, so I will assume he is not in the picture for purposes of answering your question. As mentioned by some of the other posts, two of whom are licensed in Florida, the Florida Wrongful Death Act will apply in your case. To proceed against the driver and owner of the oncoming car it is necessary that an estate be opened in the name of your mother. The person in charge of that estate is called the "personal representative." The personal represeantive is appointed by the court (or designated in a will by your mother). The personal representative hires the lawyer to bring the wrongful death claims on behalf of all children under 25, or all children if there is no surviving spouse. These people are called "survivors." Your question asks "how much should you sue for?" The answer depends on many factors (was your mother working, what was her relationship with the survivors, etc.) But the most important question will likely be what insurance is available from the oncoming driver and the owner of that car and what auto insurance did your mom and any resident relative of hers' have on the day of the accident. Unfortunately, the Florida legislature has not yet required Florida drivers to carry bodily injury liability (BI) coverage which would apply in this case. Many of the larger insurers won't sell a policy without at least $10,000 of it, but many don't have it at all. Even a good policy may only have $100,000 of BI. The next question is did your mom or any relative of hers living in her home on the day of the accident have uninsured motorist coverage (UM)? If so, a good policy will likely only have $100,000 (or $200,000 if additional car "stacked" ) as well. So the initial question for any lawyer in evaluating what to sue for is the amount of insurance. You can sue for more than insurance limits, but unless the person is very wealthy and that wealth is not tied up in a home or a pension, it it nearly impossible to collect in Florida. As I always say, there is a reason O.J. Simpson moved to Florida. Good lawyers will usually demand all available insurance before filing suit in a death case and hope one of the insurers doesn't pay. This can sometimes lead to unlimited insurance coverage and is referred to as "bad faith" law. I hope this gives you a better idea of how this area of the law works and answers your question. Again, my condolences for your loss.