Filing an Anchorage Wrongful Death Action

In the immediate aftermath of an accident that caused someone you love to unjustly lose their life, the idea of adding civil litigation to your plate may be understandably unappealing. Filing an Anchorage wrongful death action in a timely fashion can be vital to protecting your own best interests and those of everyone else in your family who loved the person you lost.

Guidance from a seasoned wrongful death attorney could be invaluable throughout every stage of the legal process, especially if you have no past experience with civil litigation. Our team can help you understand what to expect from the filing process and what you can do now to increase your chances of case success.

Basic Steps in the Wrongful Death Filing Process

The only person who can legally file a wrongful death action in Anchorage after a fatal accident or criminal act is the personal representative for the deceased person. This is typically someone nominated in the deceased person’s will to manage their affairs after their death and act in the best interests of their estate and their heirs in doing so. However, if someone dies without a will or does not name a personal representative in their estate plan, a court can appoint someone—usually, but not always, a close family member or friend of the decedent—to fill this role.

Once the person to be named as the defendant in the lawsuit is notified of the impending claim, there may be multiple rounds of negotiations conducted outside of a courtroom to see if the parties involved can agree on a fair settlement. The vast majority of injury claims conclude with out-of-court settlements rather than civil court verdicts. When a case does proceed to trial, the party filing suit will have the burden of proving the named defendant was directly responsible for causing a wrongful death through their own negligent or wrongful act.

What Evidence Is Important in a Wrongful Death Action?

While assistance from legal counsel is vital when filing an Anchorage wrongful death action, the primary factor determining a case’s odds of success will be the amount and quality of evidence the filing party has to support their claim. For wrongful death claims, in particular, important evidence may include things like:

• Comprehensive medical reports detailing the nature and severity of the decedent’s injuries
• A certificate of death issued by state authorities, and potentially an autopsy report as well
• Photo and video footage of the fatal accident
• Eyewitness testimony about the accident
• Testimony from family members and friends to establish non-economic losses like emotional anguish

A lawyer can help identify, collect, preserve, and make effective use of all available information pertaining to a fatal accident or injury.

Talk to an Anchorage Attorney About Filing a Wrongful Death Action

Pursuing a civil lawsuit over an injury is rarely simple and almost never easy for anyone involved. It can be especially difficult to go through this kind of process when the claim is based on that immense loss you have experienced.

Guidance from seasoned legal representation can make all the difference in how efficiently the process of filing an Anchorage wrongful death action will go. Call today to learn more.