Wrongful Death Lawyers in Pennsylvania: Two Claims, One Case

Two claims, and why the difference matters

They are filed together in one case, but the money is distributed differently and taxed differently, which is a reason to get the split right rather than treat it as a formality.

Who is allowed to bring it

The wrongful death claim belongs to the statutory beneficiaries, in the order Pennsylvania sets: spouse, then children, then parents. The survival action belongs to the estate and is brought by the personal representative, so somebody has to be appointed if there is no will naming one.

Families often lose weeks here. Opening the estate is a straightforward step and it can proceed in parallel with everything else.

The deadline

Generally two years, running from the date of death rather than the date of the injury. Where the death followed a long illness or a delayed complication those are different dates, and the distinction occasionally matters a great deal.

If a government body is involved, a municipality, a transit authority, a state hospital, written notice is usually required within six months, and that shorter clock catches families who were, reasonably, not thinking about deadlines.

What these cases are actually built from

Economic loss is calculated, not estimated: earnings history, expected working life, benefits and pension, reduced to present value, usually with an economist. The non-economic part, what the family lost in guidance and companionship, is proved through the people who knew them.

The survival claim’s pain and suffering component turns on what the records show about the period between injury and death, including whether the person was conscious. It is a difficult thing to prove and a harder thing to sit through, and it is also frequently the larger number.

Deaths that produce more than one claim

A death at work produces workers compensation death benefits for dependants, and where a third party contributed, a defective machine, another company’s driver, a separate wrongful death claim alongside it. A death in a nursing home is usually both a wrongful death claim and a survival action built on the facility’s records. A fatal crash may involve several policies at once.

How we handle these

Slowly, at the family’s pace, and without pressing for details before people are ready. Practically, though, records and witnesses do not wait, so the early work is usually ours rather than yours: obtaining the medical file, the police or facility records, and preserving what would otherwise be lost. The first conversation costs nothing and does not commit you to anything.