Georgia has unique wrongful death laws that govern the recovery of damages after a person is killed due to the negligence of another.
Under Georgia laws, a single claim will is usually not sufficient to recover the various types of damages that family members may be entitled to after the death of a loved one due to the recklessness or carelessness of another. The law allows for the filing of two separate types of claims for recovery of wrongful death damages.
The first type of claim will help family members of the deceased recover damages to compensate for the full value of the life of the deceased. These damages can include damages that are directly related to the loss of the person. For instance, the claim will include lost income of the deceased, including lost wages as well as any benefits that he would have been eligible for if he had lived. Apart from these direct financial damages, this claim can also include compensation for the loss of the deceased’s care, affection, companionship and other non-financial losses.
This type of wrongful death claim can be filed by the surviving family members of the deceased. The claim will include both financial damages like lost income, as well non-monetary damages, such as  loss of consortium, which can be claimed by the surviving spouse.
However, this type of claim does not help recover costs directly related to the deceased’s death, like funeral and burial costs. To recover these types of damages, a separate type of claim has to be filed under wrongful death law.
This second type of claim can include costs related to the actual death of the person. This claim can, therefore, include funeral and burial costs of the deceased. In some cases, death may not be immediate, but may occur after several days spent in the hospital after an illness or injury. In such cases, the claim can include medical costs associated with the treatment of the deceased just before his death. This type of wrongful death claim can also include damages for the deceased’s pain and suffering before the death.  This type of claim is filed by the estate of the deceased.
In both types of claims, however, the statute of limitation or the time limit within which you must file a claim is set at two years. In other words, your claim must be filed within the two-year window for it to be valid. There are certain exceptions in rare cases. For example, if the estate continues to remain under probate, the statute of limitations may be extended for up to 5 years.
Accounting for all financial losses after the death of a loved one is crucial in order to limit the extent of financial damage after the loss of a loved one’s death. No amount of money can ever make up for the loss of a dear one, but it’s important to keep your legal rights in mind and talk to an attorney in Atlanta about filing a wrongful death claim to recover the damages that you and your family members qualify for.