Michigan Wrongful Death Lawsuits: Who can file them?
I am often contacted by families mourning the loss of a loved one to discuss filing a Michigan wrongful death lawsuit against the person, business, or medical provider that it is believed to have wrongfully caused the death. The conversation usually starts about the accident or incident itself and then moves to the big question, “Who can file the wrongful death lawsuit?”
In Michigan, there is the Michigan Wrongful Death Statute that sets forth the criteria and priority to see who can actually file the suit. First and foremost, a probate estate must be opened with the county probate court. A personal reprsentative is appointed by the probate judge. This person then has authority to hire a lawyer to file the wrongful death lawsuit.
In a perfect world, all of the surviving family members would work together, agree on a personal reprsentative, select a lawyer by group decision, and then move forward with the case. In reality, there are often disputes between family members on each and every single one of those decisions. The Michigan Wrongful Death Act is a statute that sets forth the criteria for who has priority to become the personal representative. In some occasions, there will be two people with equal priority (example would be if the decedent had two sons and they both wanted to be the personal representative) and then it unfortunately becomes a battle between the two of them. Why do family members fight about this?
Simple. Certain people want to control the lawsuit and hire the attorney of their choice. It should not be surprising that many lawyers also push this issue so that they will be appointed to handle the case. This is sad because the last thing the decedent would want is the family fighting over who will handle his or her death case.
At the end of the case, if it settles, the family will then have to agree on the distribution of the wrongful death settlement proceeds. Many times, families agree on the breakdown. Again, unfortunately, many family members fight over their individual percentage of recovery. If no agreement can be made, the presiding judge makes the determination.
You can see that in some circumstances, the true colors of many surviving family members are revealed when it comes time to getting control of the case and the settlement. I have been successful in creating harmony in this process even amongst the most difficult family members and getting everyone “on board” to pursue the real purpose, which is compensation for the loss of a loved one.
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BUCKFIRE & BUCKFIRE, P.C. is a Michigan personal injury law firm and is not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time of the posting of the article. The information contained in this article is from online news sources and any perceived misstatements should be attributed to those sources as we did not complete any investigation of the accident. If you believe that the information is inaccurate and would like it changed or would like this post completely removed from the site, please let us know and we will do our best to promptly accommodate your request. We are very sensitive to these requests.
If you were involved in this accident or a similar accident and have questions about your legal rights and options, it is important that you contact a reputable law firm. Please make sure that any Michigan law firm that you contact has significant experience in handling these types of accident and injury cases and has an excellent track record of successful settlements and jury verdicts. We also suggest that the attorney you contact provides you with a free initial consultation.
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