When you lose a loved one in an accident, it’s called a wrongful death case.
To protect the rights of those who need the settlement the most, South Carolina law sets out how settlement is split. In this brief video, South Carolina wrongful death attorney Rob Usry describes how these settlements get split in a typical case.
Transcript
Hey folks, we're talking about who can recover in a fatal accident in South Carolina. If you lose a loved one in an accident it's called a wrongful death case. To protect the rights of those who typically need the settlement the most, South Carolina law sets out how the settlement is divided. The victims will is not a factor.
Basically the settlement is divided like this in the typical case. If there's a surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets one-half as long as there's children. If there are no children the surviving spouse gets at all. For children, they get one-half if there's a surviving spouse. Think of it this way, if an accident claims the life of a husband and father of three, the wife gets half the settlement while the children equally split the other half. If there is no surviving spouse the children get it all.
There may be another part of the case called a survival action. That covers the victim’s conscious pain and suffering, medical bills, and the funeral bill. That money is part of the victim’s estate, it has to go through probate. After that the rest gets paid according to the victims will. If there is no will it gets paid out according to probate law which is a lot like the wrongful death settlement splits we just discussed.
Contact A Spartanburg Wrongful Death Attorney
If ever there was a case to get legal help on it's this one. You need it done well and you need it done right by an attorney you trust. If you've got questions about a wrongful death case feel free to fill out our get help now form or just call our office and you'll get answers to your questions from an experienced wrongful death attorney. I thank you for thinking about this with me and I hope I see you soon
