Losing a family member like a mother or father hurts beyond words, but it hurts even more when the death could’ve been prevented. All too often, children and relatives of elderly residents in South Carolina nursing home and assisted living facilities confront the shock and heartbreak of losing a beloved parent when the facility they entrusted their care to failed in its basic obligation to care for them properly.
It's totally natural to find yourself asking, “What are my legal rights if I think my mom or dad died from nursing home neglect?” If you can prove your family member passed away because of neglect in a South Carolina nursing home or assisted living facility, you may have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit to seek compensation.
Here's where I do the hardest part of my job: telling folks like you the truth even if neither of us likes it. South Carolina law places limits, or caps, on how much money you can receive in a wrongful death settlement. Because you're already limited, it makes it even more important to protect the rights you do have.
Below, I'll tell you how nursing home neglect can cause wrongful death in South Carolina, what families can get a settlement for, who is eligible for compensation, and the caps on settlements. I'll also explain how families can protect their legal rights to maximize their settlements.
I'm not going to delay what needs to be made clear. Facilities and their insurance companies that pay these settlements circle the wagons quickly when a preventable death occurs. They will turn against you to delay answering your questions and discourage you from pursuing a claim. They've got highly trained professional administrators, insurance claims experts, and, of course, attorneys. You can't afford to be the only amateur in the room. Get legal advice now.
I'm a Spartanburg, South Carolina nursing home neglect attorney, and I'll answer your questions for free with no high-pressure sales tactics. Call toll-free at 888-230-1841 or fill out a Get Help Now form.
What Is Nursing Home or Assisted Facility Neglect in South Carolina?
Basically, in South Carolina, nursing home neglect happens when a facility’s staff fails to provide proper care for a resident. This neglect can result in serious injuries, like hip fractures or bedsores, and even death. Sadly, there can be a long delay between an injury and the death that results from it. At first, the two may seem unrelated, but they may actually be connected. A classic example is a hip fracture that leaves a resident debilitated and bedridden until they pass away. Proving the two are related requires expert evidence, and you can bet the facility will fight tooth and nail to argue the injury wasn't their fault and the death was only natural. It's yet another reason you need a South Carolina nursing home neglect lawyer to help you.
Some examples of nursing home neglect include:
- Ignoring residents’ basic human needs, like failing to provide adequate food or water. If your mom or dad is “wasting away” or looks malnourished or dehydrated, call it to the staff and administrators’ attention immediately and get answers.
- Failure to give or monitor medication. Medication mistakes can lead to severe allergic reactions or even falls, causing hip fractures that can wind up causing the death of a resident.
- Medical neglect. If a nursing home fails to provide the medical care a resident needs, it can result in conditions worsening or becoming fatal. For example, failing to manage medications or monitor vital signs properly could lead to death.
- Not maintaining a clean, safe environment. Unsafe conditions like wet or cluttered floors and poor lighting can lead to dangerous falls, causing hip fractures or even a traumatic brain injury that can lead to death.
- Failure to prevent bedsores. Bedsores carry an enormous health risk to South Carolina nursing home or assisted living facility residents. Sadly, it's well known they are easily prevented by properly monitoring bedridden residents. Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, can develop when a resident is not properly moved or repositioned. These sores can become infected and lead to serious complications, including death.
- Not supervising or assisting with daily tasks. For nursing home or assisted living facility residents with impaired mobility, it's critical to supervise and assist in the most dangerous room, the bathroom. A fall while bathing or using the bathroom can result in agonizing fractures or a traumatic brain injury that can be lethal.
How does this kind of neglect happen in what looked like a wonderful facility full of caring professionals? Sadly, there are a lot of factors that can contribute to the cause of a wrongful death from South Carolina nursing home neglect. But the critical factor that occurs with disturbing frequency in these cases is inadequate staffing. There is no doubt about it: these facilities exist to make money. Hiring more staff means making less money. In nursing home or assisted living facility neglect cases in South Carolina, we are often confronted with the fact there's just not enough staff to care for residents properly.
The only real way to hold facilities and their owners accountable for this is to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. If you fear your mom or dad or other beloved family member died from neglect in the South Carolina assisted living or nursing home facility, call me. I’m a Spartanburg, South Carolina assisted living facility wrongful death lawyer, and I'll answer your questions for free. Call me toll-free at 888-230-1841.
South Carolina Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facility Wrongful Death and Survival Claims: What’s the Difference?
In South Carolina, there are two types of claims you can file when a loved one dies from nursing home neglect: wrongful death and survival. While both seek compensation, they differ in terms of the harms and losses they cover. The legal word for harms and losses you get a settlement for is “damages.” Let's talk about what you get a settlement for in each claim.
1. Wrongful Death Claim
A wrongful death claim is filed on behalf of the family members of the deceased person. The person with the power to file the case is the “personal representative.” The personal representative is either named in the will or appointed by the probate court. Either way, it takes a probate court order to become the personal representative.
What the settlement is for. South Carolina wrongful death cases seek compensation for the losses certain close family members [see below] suffer due to the death, such as:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of companionship and guidance
- Emotional suffering, like grief and sorrow
- Lost income and financial support.
Who's eligible for the settlement. In South Carolina, certain family members are eligible to receive compensation from a wrongful death claim. These include:
- The spouse and children of the deceased. The surviving spouse gets half the settlement, and the children split the other half. If there's no surviving spouse, the children get the entire settlement.
- If there is no surviving spouse or child, then the parents of the deceased.
- If there are no surviving parents, then the heirs of the deceased.
2. Survival Claim
A survival claim is filed by the personal representative on behalf of the deceased person’s estate. It seeks compensation for the losses the deceased suffered before they passed away, such as:
- Medical bills related to the injury or neglect. Pain and suffering experienced by the deceased before death.
You can also assign funeral bills to this claim.
The damages recovered in a survival claim are paid to the estate of the deceased, meaning they “go into probate.” That means the probate court decides how the money is apportioned in accordance with South Carolina law and the deceased's last will and testament if there is one.
PRO TIP: Apportioning money between these settlements requires a careful strategic legal decision. You'll need an experienced South Carolina wrongful death attorney to help you, as putting money into probate causes delay and a likely reduction in what family members can recover.
If you've got questions on how to structure a potential wrongful death settlement from a South Carolina nursing home or assisted living facility neglect case, I'm an experienced South Carolina wrongful death attorney. Call me toll-free at 888-230-1841 to get your questions answered for free, with no hassle to hire me.
What Are the Statutory Caps on Wrongful Death Damages in South Carolina?
In South Carolina, there are limits, or caps, on the amount of a settlement that can be awarded in wrongful death and survival claims. These caps apply to non-economic damages, which just happen to be the biggest part of most wrongful death cases. Non-economic damages are compensation for human loss, like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of companionship.
South Carolina law does not limit economic damages like medical bills or lost wages.
South Carolina Caps on Non-Economic Damages in Wrongful Death Cases
- For private nursing homes and assisted living facilities, South Carolina law caps non-economic damages at $350,000 per claimant and $1.05 million maximum when multiple health care providers are involved.
There are exceptions, meaning caps don't apply if:
- There was gross negligence, meaning the facility can be legally proven to have exercised no care towards your family member.
- The facility committed fraud or misrepresentation related to the case. That could mean they tried to cover it up.
- The facility altered or destroyed medical records to avoid the claim. This is definitely part of a cover-up.
- For cases involving government-supported facilities, the cap on non-economic damages is set at $300,000 per claimant and a total of $600,000 per occurrence (meaning that the total payout for all claimants combined cannot exceed $600,000).
PRO TIP on the meaning of “government supported”: many facilities ordinary folks assume to be private are actually government supported. A classic example is Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. It's not private. It's government supported.
PRO TIP on “occurrences”: A skilled South Carolina personal injury attorney can create arguments that each separate instance of neglect is a separate “occurrence.” If done convincingly, this can help your family recover more in a settlement because you get access to additional money for more occurrences.
Find out the effect of caps on your family's compensation. I'm a Spartanburg, South Carolina assisted living facility and nursing home neglect lawyer. Call me toll-free at 888-230-1841.
How to Protect Your Rights and Maximize Your Family’s South Carolina Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility Wrongful Death Settlement
The legal process for South Carolina assisted living facility or nursing home neglect cases is highly complex. They are considered the same as medical malpractice cases. For starters, you need an expert witness who can provide an affidavit the facility committed neglect, leading to your relative's death. First, that requires finding the right expert. You need a nursing home or medical professional who is well-versed in how residents should be treated and can testify well to help prove your case. An affidavit is an official legal paper that has to be done the right way, or you could lose your case.
Here are steps you can take to protect your rights and maximize the settlement you receive.
- Gather evidence. To prove that nursing home neglect caused your loved one’s death, you’ll need evidence. This can include medical records and photos of any injuries. You and your family also need to recall your own observations of neglect and any conversations you had with staff or administrators about your concerns.
- Consult with an experienced South Carolina nursing home neglect or assisted living facility attorney. Simply put, this is no job for an amateur. You've got too much at stake, and the law is too complicated for you to take this on yourself. Don't cheat your family out of the only chance you have to hold the facility accountable. Contact an experienced South Carolina nursing home or assisted living facility neglect attorney.
- Act fast. South Carolina has a time limit for filing wrongful death claims, called the “statute of limitations.” Government-supported facilities have a deadline of two years. Private facilities have a deadline of three years. The deadline may start before death. If you miss the deadline, you lose your right to a settlement.
- Get an explanation from the facility. Schedule a meeting with administrators anytime you have any concerns about the care of mom or dad. This is especially true if they pass away after an injury, or unexpectedly, or for reasons that don't make sense.
- Get medical records. These are an extremely important piece of the puzzle in these cases, which can explain injuries, worsening conditions, and even how the neglect occurred.
- File a complaint with a state agency for an investigation. Contact the South Carolina Department of Aging Long Term Care Ombudsman. This can trigger an investigation of the home to uncover neglect. But they don't always find it, and they often don't hold them accountable in a meaningful way. All the Ombudsman can do is issue fines or demands for corrective action.
- Document expenses and financial losses. Make sure to keep records of all financial losses related to your loved one’s death, including funeral expenses and medical bills. These records will be essential in determining the amount of compensation you are entitled to.
If You're Handling This Alone, You're on a Train to Nowhere. Get Guidance.
Losing a loved one due to nursing home neglect is a tragic and painful experience, and it’s important to know that you have legal options to seek justice. By filing a wrongful death or survival claim, you may be able to recover compensation for the emotional and financial losses caused by the nursing home’s neglect. Understanding South Carolina’s statutory caps on damages, who can file claims, and how to protect your rights can help you maximize your settlement and find some measure of closure.
But you've got to do it the right way, or it won't happen at all. You need a legal technician to handle all of the dirty details. You need a storyteller to bring to life the reality of your emotional loss. You need an experienced professional who knows how to fight for your rights.
You can find all those things by selecting the right attorney. I'm a Spartanburg, South Carolina nursing home and assisted living wrongful death attorney, and I'm here to help you. Call me toll- free at 888-230-1841.
Check out what others say about me in these Google reviews from actual clients that I don't write, edit, or pay for.
