A fatal accident may result in two types of legal claims. The first is a criminal case. Criminal cases are brought by the government in an attempt to punish the responsible party for breaking the law. However, even if a defendant in a criminal case is found guilty, the family stands to gain little from the conviction because the court is not able to award monetary damages to the victim’s family.
A wrongful death case, on the other hand, is a civil claim brought on behalf of the accident victim’s surviving loved ones. Because wrongful death claims are civil in nature, they are subject to a lower burden of proof. This means that, even if the government didn’t charge the person responsible for your loved one’s death or they were found not guilty at trial, you can still pursue a wrongful death claim.