Connecticut Wrongful Death Attorney

A wrongful death claim is a civil action brought to recover damages for a death caused by another person's negligence or wrongful conduct. In Connecticut, wrongful death actions are governed by Connecticut General Statutes § 52-555.

Connecticut law has a distinctive feature that many people are not aware of, including those who have lost family members. The wrongful death claim must be brought by the executor or administrator of the decedent's estate, not directly by surviving spouses, children, or parents. Damages recovered in the wrongful death action go to the estate and are then distributed under the terms of the decedent's will or, if there is no will, under Connecticut's laws of intestate succession.

This is different from the rule in many other states, where surviving family members can bring wrongful death actions directly in their own names. Understanding the Connecticut rule matters because the first practical step in pursuing a wrongful death claim is often the appointment of an executor or administrator through the Connecticut probate court.

Connecticut also recognizes a separate claim for loss of consortium, which a surviving spouse can bring in their own name. The loss of consortium claim is intended to compensate the spouse for the loss of the companionship, affection and services of the decedent.

Wrongful death cases arise from many of the same causes as other personal injury cases, except that the consequences are fatal. The most common categories the firm sees include:

• Motor vehicle accidents, including car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle crashes
• Medical malpractice, including misdiagnosis, failure to treat, surgical errors, anesthesia errors, birth injury, medication errors, and hospital errors
• Defective drugs and medical devices, when a product causes a death the manufacturer could and should have prevented
• Defective products, including vehicles, machinery, and consumer goods
• Workplace incidents, including construction accidents, industrial accidents, and other on-the-job fatalities
• Premises liability incidents, including falls from heights, fires, and unsafe conditions on property
• Nursing home and adult day care negligence, including failure to provide adequate care and supervision
• Psychiatric and behavioral health failures, including suicides resulting from inadequate care
• Sexual abuse and assault, including suicides resulting from trauma
• Intentional acts, including murder and assaults that result in death

The legal theories differ from case to case, but the elements of a wrongful death claim are the same: someone owed the decedent a duty, they breached that duty, the breach caused the death, and the death produced compensable losses to the estate and to surviving family members.

Under Connecticut General Statutes § 52-555, the wrongful death lawsuit itself can only be filed by the executor or administrator of the decedent's estate. In practice, this typically works as follows.

If the decedent had a will and named an executor, the executor petitions the Connecticut probate court for appointment. Once appointed, the executor has the legal authority to bring the wrongful death action on behalf of the estate. If the decedent did not have a will, the probate court appoints an administrator. The administrator has the same authority to bring the action.

Surviving spouses are not parties to the wrongful death action itself, but they can bring a separate loss of consortium claim in their own name. Under Connecticut law, children have no claim for loss of consortium, nor do parents have a claim for loss of consortium relating to a child's death.

A Connecticut wrongful death attorney can guide a family through the probate appointment process, identify the right parties to bring each available claim, and ensure that all claims are filed within the applicable deadlines.

A wrongful death claim must establish the same elements as any other negligence case, with the addition of causation of death.

Duty

The defendant must have owed the decedent a duty of reasonable care. The specific duty depends on the relationship between the parties and the circumstances of the case. A driver owes a duty to other road users. A doctor owes a duty to a patient. A property owner owes a duty to visitors. An employer owes a duty to provide a safe workplace.

Breach

The defendant must have breached that duty by doing something a reasonably careful person would not have done, or by failing to do something a reasonably careful person would have done. In some cases, breach is established as a matter of law by the violation of a statute or regulation.

Causation

The breach must have caused the death. Causation has two parts. The defendant's conduct must have been a but-for cause of the death (the death would not have occurred without the conduct), and the death must have been a foreseeable result of the conduct.

Damages

The death must have produced compensable losses. In a wrongful death case, this is usually self-evident.

Each element typically requires expert testimony in serious cases. The firm works with leading medical, scientific, and economic experts to develop the proof needed to establish each element of the claim.

Wrongful death cases reward exactly the kind of work the firm has done for more than four decades. The firm only accepts cases where the fault is clear, and when the firm accepts a case, it commits the full financial and legal resources of the firm to that case.

The firm maintains relationships with experienced physicians who are deeply involved in the investigation of every case. In wrongful death cases involving medical issues, mechanism of injury, or causation of death, that medical perspective is particularly valuable.

The firm uses sophisticated trial preparation techniques, including focus groups, to test how real Connecticut jurors react to the facts of a case before trial. Focus group work surfaces the strengths and weaknesses of a case in a way that nothing else can.

The firm retains accident reconstruction experts, biomechanical engineers, treating physicians, and other technical specialists to establish exactly what happened and why. In wrongful death cases, the work of reconstructing the events leading to a death is often the most important part of the case.

The firm maintains a national network of expert witnesses, including leading physicians, surgeons, life-care planners, vocational experts, and economists, who are available to evaluate cases and testify when needed.

Connecticut General Statutes § 52-555 allows the estate to recover damages for the losses caused by the death. The damages available are broader than many people expect.

The decedent's lost earnings. The estate can recover the value of the income the decedent would have earned over their working life if they had not been killed. Establishing this number accurately requires economic and vocational expertise, particularly for younger decedents and those whose careers were still developing.

The decedent's lost capacity to enjoy life. Connecticut law allows the estate to recover for the decedent's loss of the ability to carry on and enjoy life's activities. This is one of the most distinctive features of Connecticut wrongful death law and a significant component of damages in many cases.

Conscious pain and suffering. When the decedent survived the injury for some period before dying, the estate can recover for the conscious pain and suffering the decedent experienced during that time.

Medical and funeral expenses. The estate can recover medical expenses incurred between the injury and the death, along with funeral and burial expenses.

Loss of consortium. A surviving spouse who brings a separate consortium claim can recover damages for the loss of companionship, affection, and services the decedent provided.

In cases involving particularly egregious conduct, punitive damages may also be available.

Connecticut General Statutes § 52-555 sets the statute of limitations for wrongful death claims at two years from the date of the death, with an outer limit of five years from the date of the act or omission that caused the death. This outer limit can become important in medical malpractice and product liability cases, where the conduct that caused the death may have occurred substantially before the death itself.

Different rules apply to certain categories of wrongful death claims, including claims against government entities, which require notice within a much shorter window.

Because these deadlines are strict and because evidence is most useful when preserved early, families should contact a Connecticut wrongful death attorney as soon as possible.