Traditionally asbestos claims are considered among people who were injured by asbestos. However, such types of injuries can be a cause of action for filing a lawsuit by family members who were not directly injured. The family members can file a lawsuit in case of their loved one died from the mesothelioma or other illness caused by asbestos. Sometimes an injured person files a lawsuits but passes away before the litigation is finished. Then a family member can step in and continue defending the interests of the deceased claimant. Professional asbestos attorneys help such families to compensate material and moral loss from wrongful death of their beloved relative.
While a person who was exposed to asbestos and has the related illness is alive, family members are not eligible to file a lawsuit. All claims must be filed by a direct victim. The case process can last for years, while the most of such cases are ended by a settlement agreement, i.e. they do not get into trial. Such cases are chances for lots of families to get money for the best possible treatment and caring about the injured person.
One of the biggest issues in claims filed by relatives is the statute of limitations. Each state has a law that defines the period during which a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits can be filed. And in case of relatives the statute of limitations starts running a claimant (a relative of the deceased asbestos victim) first get the documental confirmation of relative’s diagnosis.
The information about asbestos related disease is not generally known, and still a lot of people don’t connect malignant mesothelioma and other types of health conditions with asbestos. People simply do not know the cause of this or that disease. As a result, even seeing a diagnosis on paper they are not aware of the reason. The problems that people exposed to asbestos have can be related to smoking as well. And this confuses the most of potential claimants. Years may pass before a family member contacts asbestos attorneys for consulting the issue and find out the required order of actions for filing a lawsuit.
Families have the right to file a lawsuit for a wrongful death during two years after their relative passed away or the date when they first time found out about the connection between death and asbestos exposure. The defendant in such a case will definitely check whether the statute of limitations was broken. The time term may vary depending in state, and only professional asbestos attorneys practicing in your state clearly know these terms.
Such law exists in order to define the justice better. For example, if a lot of years have passed since the injury was detected, more and more expenses can be required for medical services due to new health complications that are not directly related to asbestos exposure. And the company responsible for it doesn’t have to compensate the part of these expenses. It also helps to limit the number of cases for asbestos exposure, that now is biggest and longest mass tort in the US history.