St. Louis Wrongful Death Lawyer

Have you lost a loved one in St. Louis, MO, due to someone else’s negligence or intentional actions? You may be entitled to damages. Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers has more than 20 years of experience representing grieving families in St. Louis. Contact our St. Louis office at (314) 400-0000 to discuss your case with a St. Louis wrongful death lawyer. 

A wrongful death lawsuit allows you to seek damages for the harm and expenses your family has suffered due to a defendant’s behavior. Money can never bring back your loved one, but it can help your family avoid financial uncertainty during a painful time.

At our law firm we also handle cases involving truck accidents, boating accidents in St. Louis, brain injuries, medical malpractice cases in St. Louis, slip and fall cases, and more. We work on a contingency fee basis with no out-of-pocket costs.

How Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After the Wrongful Death of a Loved One in St. Louis

How Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After the Wrongful Death of a Loved One in St. Louis

After the devastating loss of a loved one, the last thing your family should be worried about is an uncertain financial future. You deserve a team of experienced St. Louis injury attorneys who can help you hold the responsible party accountable and fight the insurance company on your behalf. Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers will put decades of legal experience to work to fight for your family and recover maximum compensation.

Principal and founding attorney E. Ryan Bradley was an insurance defense attorney before turning to personal injury law. He uses this insight into insurance company tactics to build strong wrongful death claims and fight back against attempts to undervalue your claim or blame your loved one for their death. He holds the prestigious AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been admitted to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

When you choose Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers to represent you in your wrongful death claim, you can trust us to:

  • Provide the sound legal advice, guidance, and support you need during this emotional time
  • Perform an exhaustive investigation into the circumstances of your loved one’s death to identify potentially liable parties, sources of compensation, and gather evidence
  • Work with top experts to accurately value your losses and create a strong case for negligence
  • Handle all administrative tasks, communications, and negotiations
  • Fight for maximum compensation through a settlement or take your case before a jury for the same

You deserve time and space to grieve, but real-world obligations like the mortgage, groceries, and utilities do not stop after a devastating loss. Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers will take over the fight for the compensation your family needs while you focus on healing. Contact our law office in St. Louis, Missouri today for a free consultation with a personal injury lawyer to discuss how we can help you.

What Is Wrongful Death in St. Louis, MO?

Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 537.080, a wrongful death occurs when someone dies due to any “conduct, occurrence, transaction, or circumstance” in which they would have been able to seek damages through a personal injury claim if they had survived.

Essentially, a death is considered “wrongful” when intentional wrongdoing, recklessness, or negligence caused the death.

When there is a wrongful death, surviving family members may be able to bring a wrongful death claim against the negligent or at-fault party.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Missouri?

There are specific rules on who may file a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri:

  • The surviving spouse or children are generally first in line to file a claim.
  • Surviving parents are next in line to file a wrongful death lawsuit, including the parents in the death of a child.
  • Surviving siblings may file a claim if there is no surviving spouse or children, grandchildren of a deceased child, or parents.
  • The personal representative of the estate may bring a wrongful death claim if there are no surviving siblings.
  • A “plaintiff ad litem” can be appointed if there is no personal representative. This must be requested by someone who is entitled to share in the proceeds of the claim. 

If you are not sure if you qualify to file a wrongful death claim, Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers can help. Schedule a free consultation, and we can offer guidance about the important decision about filing a wrongful death case.

What is Missouri’s Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death?

Missouri’s wrongful death statute of limitations is three (3) years

What Is My Wrongful Death Accident Case Worth?

All wrongful death cases are unique. Wrongful death compensation can vary greatly. While some cases can settle for $10,000, others may be worth millions. Consulting with an experienced wrongful death lawyer is an important step to understanding how much your case may be worth.

Aside from medical expenses and burial expenses, two types of damages contribute to the bulk of a wrongful death claim’s value. These damages are earnings the decedent would have earned and non-economic losses the family suffered.

Valuing a wrongful death case is difficult and requires presenting a persuasive case. Your loved one’s health, life expectancy, work history, and earning capacity all factor into an assessment of the wages they would have earned if they had lived.

Non-economic losses are harder to quantify. We may present evidence about your loved one’s character, talents and skills they contributed to the family, role in child-rearing, and the level of care they provided to children or older family members.

Our St. Louis wrongful death lawyers will help you understand what your case may be worth and the factors involved. At Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers, we will help you build the strongest case possible to seek the full damages your family deserves after a devastating loss.

What Kind of Damages Are Available for Wrongful Death in St. Louis, MO?

A wrongful death claim allows you to seek compensation for the damages your family suffered as a result of the death of a loved one. 

These damages may include:

  • Burial and funeral expenses
  • Medical expenses related to your loved one’s illness or injury
  • The value of benefits and wages the decedent would have reasonably earned and contributed if they had lived
  • The pain and suffering your loved one experienced before death
  • Reasonable value of consortium, services, companionship, guidance, training, support, instruction, and comfort your loved one provided to family members
  • Value of elder care or child care your loved one provided 

Missouri has a unique law for the value of care. Suppose your loved one was not employed full-time and cared for another family member (such as a sick or aging family member or child) at least 50% of the time. In that case, there is a rebuttable presumption that the value of the case was worth 110% of the state’s average weekly wage.

Note that surviving family members cannot recover damages for grief and bereavement in Missouri. However, other forms of non-economic losses are available.

Missouri law allows for additional damages if there were “aggravating circumstances” in the defendant’s behavior. Similar to punitive damages, these damages punish a defendant for behavior known to be dangerous with a high chance of resulting in someone else’s injury or death.

There is no cap on damages available in a wrongful death claim in Missouri. The only exception is non-economic losses in wrongful death cases involving medical malpractice, which are capped at $350,000, adjusted for inflation.

We Represent Families in All Types of Wrongful Death Cases in Missouri

Wrongful death cases typically involve negligence and human error. They may also be the result of intentional wrongdoing and crime, such as assault.

 At Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers, we represent families who have lost loved ones in all types of cases, including:

If someone else was responsible for your loved one’s death, you may have a wrongful death claim. Contact Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation with a St. Louis wrongful death attorney to discuss your case.

How Do I Prove Negligence in a Wrongful Death Case in St. Louis, Missouri?

To recover damages in your claim, you must prove that the defendant’s negligence or intentional actions caused your loved one’s death. You must also show your loved one could have sought damages through a personal injury claim if they lived and your family suffered financial losses as a result of the death.

Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers will conduct a thorough investigation into your loved one’s accident to gather evidence that proves fault. This evidence may include:

  • Your family member’s medical records
  • Property maintenance and inspection logs and past complaints or incidents for a premises liability case
  • Cell phone records for a suspected distracted driver
  • On-board vehicle data
  • Witness statements
  • Police reports, citations, and arrests related to the accident or crime
  • Photos and videos of the scene of the accident 

If the defendant was convicted of a crime like manslaughter or DUI, this can strengthen your wrongful death claim. However, it is not necessary, and the burden of proof is lower in a civil claim.

Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers will work with specialists in many fields as needed to analyze evidence and present expert testimony on how the accident occurred and who is at fault.

How Long Do I Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Missouri?

You have three years from the date of your loved one’s death to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri. If you miss the deadline on this statute of limitations, you will not be able to recover any compensation or hold the responsible party accountable for your loved one’s death.

It’s crucial to take action quickly and contact a wrongful death lawyer in St. Louis. We can give you the space you need to grieve while investigating your loved one’s accident and preserving evidence, so it is not lost.

How Much Can a Wrongful Death Case be Worth?

Fortunately, in Missouri, there is no cap on wrongful death cases resulting from non-health care services. That means, if you lost a loved one resulting from a car, truck or motorcycle crash, there is no cap for compensatory damages. However, there is a statutory cap for wrongful death medical malpractice cases against health care providers in connection with non-economic damages. Each year the Missouri Department of Insurance readjusts those caps to account for inflation pursuant to Missouri Statute 538.205. Currently, for 2024, the Missouri Department of Insurance set the cap for “non-catastrophic injuries” at $465,531 and for “catastrophic injuries” at $814,679. 

Contact a St. Louis Wrongful Death Lawyer for a Free Consultation

When someone’s negligence or recklessness causes the death of another, they should be held accountable. Bradley Law Personal Injury Lawyers will put decades of experience and insight to work to give your family the closure and financial support you need after the loss of a loved one.

Contact our law office today for a free consultation with a compassionate St. Louis wrongful death lawyer ready to help you.

Our St. Louis personal injury law firm also provides:

St. Louis Wrongful Death Testimonial

St. Louis Wrongful Death Testimonial

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St. Louis, MO Courts

  • St Louis Magistrate Court – 10 N Tucker Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63101
  • Missouri Court of Appeals – 815 Olive St #304, St. Louis, MO 63101
  • US District Court Clerk – 111 S 10th St # 3.300, St. Louis, MO 63102
  • St. Louis City Family Court – 920 Vandeventer Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108

*Disclaimer – we do not endorse these companies or profit from having them listed on our website.