To hold the defendant liable in a wrongful death claim, you must meet the same burden of proof that your loved one would have been required to meet if he or she had lived.
If your claim is based on negligence, the following points must be demonstrated:
- The defendant breached that duty
- The breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of the victim’s death
- The victim’s death caused the damages you are seeking to recover
In Texas, the wrongful death statute allows damages awarded proportionally to the injury caused by the victim’s death. These are divided among surviving spouses, children, and parents as determined by the jury. Punitive damages may be recovered for willful acts, or gross negligence, aiming to punish and deter such conduct.
