Wrongful Death
What is ‘Wrongful Death’?
Under Oklahoma law, a wrongful death case can be initiated when a spouse, parent, or child is fatally injured due to a motor vehicle accident, a defective product, medical malpractice, or another situation caused by someone’s careless, negligence, or wrongful conduct.
Wrongful death cases often arise from circumstances that include:
- Motor Vehicle Crashes
- Defective Products
- Premises liability incidents, including slip-and-fall accidents
- Medical Malpractice
- Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect
- Workplace accidents
Who can File a Wrongful Death Case in Oklahoma?
Oklahoma law allows certain people who can demonstrate monetary or emotional injury to make a claim for damages. These people may include:
- Spouse or domestic partner
- Children
- Parents
- Siblings
A wrongful death claim may also be filed by a “personal representative” of the deceased.
Damages and Compensation in Wrongful Death Cases
Compensation that may be recovered in a wrongful death claim includes money for:
- Medical and burial expenses — distributed to the person or governmental agency that actually paid these expenses, or to the decedent’s estate if paid by the estate;
- Pecuniary loss (loss of current and future monetary support) — distributed to the surviving spouse and children, if any, or next of kin, according to their individual pecuniary losses;
- Loss of consortium and the grief of the surviving spouse — distributed to the surviving spouse;
- Grief and loss of companionship of the children and parents of the decedent — distributed according to evidence of their individual grief and loss of companionship;
- Mental pain and anguish suffered by the decedent (between time of injury and death) — distributed to the surviving spouse and children, if any, or next of kin in the same proportion as personal property of the decedent is distributed by the probate court or will;
- Exemplary or punitive damages — distributed to the surviving spouse and children, if any, or next of kin in the same proportion as personal property of the decedent is distributed by the probate court or will.
The judge presiding over the wrongful death suit decides how an award for compensation recovered for pecuniary loss or loss of companionship is divided among the legally defined beneficiaries.