Fort Worth Wrongful Death Lawyer

How Parker Law Firm Injury Lawyers Helps With a Fort Worth Wrongful Death Claim

We find out what happened and who is responsible, and we handle the legal and insurance work so your family doesn’t have to. Wrongful death cases often turn on evidence that can disappear quickly, and on insurance that isn’t always disclosed.

When you hire us, we:

• Investigate the circumstances of your loved one’s death
• Preserve evidence, including vehicle data, video, and company records
• Identify every person and company that may be responsible
• Find every insurance policy, including excess coverage that may not be disclosed at first
• Work with reconstructionists, economists, and other professionals when a case needs them
• Get to know your family, so we can show a jury what this loss really means
• Handle insurers and opposing lawyers, and prepare the case for trial from the start

Led by W. Bradley “Brad” Parker, Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, our firm represents families in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and throughout Texas.

What Is Wrongful Death in Texas?

A wrongful death happens when a person dies because of another party’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default. That is the standard in the Texas Wrongful Death Act. In practical terms, a claim may exist when the person who died could have brought an injury claim had they survived.

Wrongful death cases arise from many kinds of preventable incidents, including:

• Car accidents
• Commercial truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Workplace and construction accidents
• Dangerous property
• Defective products

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?

The surviving spouse, children, and parents of the person who died can file a Texas wrongful death claim. They may bring it individually or together.

Separately, the estate may have a survival action: the claim the deceased person could have brought had they lived. It covers their own losses, such as medical bills, pain and suffering before death, and funeral expenses. When a person lives for minutes, days, or weeks after an accident, there can be both a wrongful death claim and a survival claim. We determine which claims apply and who has the legal authority to bring them.

Who Can Be Held Liable for a Wrongful Death?

Anyone whose negligence contributed to the death can be responsible, and many cases involve more than one party. Depending on the facts, that may include:

• Negligent drivers
• Truck drivers and trucking companies
• Employers and contractors
• Property owners and businesses
• Product manufacturers
• Maintenance companies

Finding every responsible party matters, because each one may carry its own insurance. Many at-fault drivers carry only the state minimum coverage, which rarely comes close to a family’s losses. Corporate defendants can take substantial investigation and discovery to identify.

Wrongful Death After Fatal Truck and Car Accidents

Fatal truck accidents can involve the driver, the trucking company, the vehicle owner, the maintenance provider, the cargo loader, and the manufacturer. Fort Worth sees heavy commercial traffic on I-35W, US-287, and around the Alliance corridor, and new construction keeps adding trucks.

Evidence in a fatal truck case can include driver qualification files, hours-of-service and electronic logging data, maintenance and inspection records, and the truck’s electronic control module (ECM). That data can be overwritten, so it must be preserved quickly. We have handled cases where the truck driver disappeared entirely, which makes early evidence even more important.

Fatal car crashes often involve distracted, impaired, or speeding drivers, failures to yield, and red-light running. In those cases, we look beyond the at-fault driver’s policy for other coverage, including employer policies, excess policies, and the family’s own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.

What Compensation Can a Family Recover?

No amount of money can replace someone you love. A wrongful death claim seeks compensation for what the family has lost, which may include:

• Lost earning capacity and financial support
• Loss of care, maintenance, services, support, and advice
• Loss of companionship and society
• Mental anguish
• Lost inheritance

Value depends on the person’s age and earnings, the support they provided, their relationship with each family member, how the death happened, the evidence of liability, and the insurance available. Where the case is filed matters too: Tarrant County juries are different from Dallas, Parker, or Denton County juries. In cases of gross negligence, Texas law may also allow exemplary (punitive) damages.

What Should You Do After the Wrongful Death of a Loved One?

Take care of your family first, and call a lawyer before you talk to any insurance company. You don’t need to understand the whole legal process right away, but some steps protect your family’s rights:

1. Keep records: accident reports, photos, medical records, receipts, and letters from insurers.
2. Don’t give statements or sign anything for the other side’s insurance company. Insurers sometimes try to settle with grieving families early and cheaply.
3. Call early. The defense calls its lawyers and investigators right away. We can download vehicle data, send a reconstructionist to the scene, and gather witness statements while the evidence still exists.

How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Texas?

The general deadline is two years from the date of death. Exceptions can change that, and claims against a city or state agency may require written notice within six months or less. Even when time remains, evidence fades, so talk to a lawyer as soon as your family is ready.

About Brad Parker

Fort Worth Wrongful Death FAQs

Visit Our Fort Worth Office