Passaic Fatal Truck Accident Lawyer

Fatal truck accidents happen every day in America, plunging families into grief. If you’re the survivor of one, we wish to offer you our deepest condolences and our help to get you compensation for your loss. 

Your loved one may have died because of someone else’s negligence. While money can never replace the loss of a loved one, our fatal truck accident lawyers in Passaic, NJ can help you cover the financial loss. Morelli Law has helped many families suffering from wrongful death get compensation. Find out if we can help you with one phone call.

Who Can Be Sued in a Fatal Truck Accident?

Most accidents with large trucks involve several defendants. The driver is one, but you may also sue their employer since most fatal truck accidents involve commercial vehicles. There may be other third parties that could share in liability.

This is important for your wrongful death lawsuit because there are multiple ways to get compensation. Our truck accident wrongful death lawyers can determine which parties need to pay for what happened to your loved one.

Once we know who is responsible for the accident, we will get to work calculating the value of your case and pressing your claim for compensation. We will aggressively pursue all legal avenues because your loved one deserves it.

Who Can File a Fatal Truck Accident Case in Passaic?

Wrongful death cases use different legal rules than other personal injury cases. Only certain people can file a claim about a fatal accident. In New Jersey, these people are:

• The decedent’s spouse, children, and grandchildren
• The parents of the decedent
• Any surviving siblings, nieces, or nephews
• Anyone who can show they were “actually dependent” on the decedent

If your loved one left a will behind, it should name someone as responsible for handling their final affairs. This can be called an executor or an administrator of the estate. This will be the best person to file the lawsuit.

This does NOT mean that the money won from these claims only goes to the person who sues. The law will divide the money up according to New Jersey’s wrongful death and probate laws.

How Do I Win a Fatal Truck Accident Case?

There are four elements of negligence to prove in order to win a fatal truck accident case. You can prove these with the help of our fatal truck accident lawyers in Passaic, NJ. The four elements are:

• Duty of care to the decedent
• A breach of the duty of care
• Causation of an accident
• Damages

You do not have to worry about the legal details of proving these. That’s our responsibility. If we can show that the accident was someone else’s fault through proving negligence, you can get money to cover the costs of losing a loved one.

Our compassionate truck accident wrongful death lawyers will handle all the details of your case while you and your family learn to cope with what has happened. Know that Morelli Law will fight hard to get you the most compensation possible after a fatal truck accident. 

What Damages Could I Win?

We broadly divide damages into economic damages and non-economic damages. In New Jersey, two different laws control how these damages get decided in a wrongful death claim. In rare cases, your case may also qualify for punitive damages.

Possible economic damages after losing a loved one to a fatal truck accident include:

• Medical, funeral, and burial expenses
• The cost of household services, companionship, care, and guidance they would have provided
• Loss of financial support based on what the decedent could have been expected to earn if they have lived

In New Jersey, the only non-economic damages that can be received are the pain and suffering the decedent experienced prior to death. New Jersey does not allow non-economic compensation for what the survivors have suffered.

Who Gets the Money in a Fatal Truck Accident Case in New Jersey?

First, all money for pain and suffering goes directly to the victim’s estate. From there, it gets distributed according to the will or by New Jersey’s probate laws if there isn’t one.

The economic damages, like your loved one’s final medical expenses and the lost wages they would have earned, are paid to people depending on the level of dependence they had on the deceased.

In the most common situation, the money will go to the deceased’s spouse and children, but if there are none then the money will go to different relatives depending on who has survived. We can tell you who would receive compensation from the case during your consultation.

What Happens if The Decedent Shares Responsibility for the Accident?

One thing that could reduce your compensation is if the defendant can prove that the decedent shared responsibility for the accident. New Jersey uses a rule called modified comparative fault to decide how compensation changes if two or more people share responsibility for a crash.

As long as your loved one wasn’t more responsible for a crash than the defendant, you can collect compensation. Courts will use a percentage to split fault, so as long as it’s less than 51%, your case can proceed.

However, the percentage of responsibility they share will reduce the compensation by that much. So if they were 20% at fault, you will lose 20% of the compensation. Therefore, we will do our utmost to counter the arguments of the insurers that your loved one was partially to blame.

Don’t Let Your Chance for Compensation Slip Away

Wrongful death claimants have a small window of time to pursue their cases. Don’t let your chance for compensation slip away after a fatal truck accident. Call Morelli Law and speak to a fatal truck accident attorney in Passaic, NJ, today for a free consultation.

All consultations with our lawyers are free and without obligation, and you will owe us nothing for our services unless you win compensation. Find out your legal options today by calling or emailing Morelli Law. We look forward to hearing your story and representing your claim in court.