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Wrongful Death Your Injury, Our Fight

Albuquerque Wrongful Death Lawyers

The unexpected passing of a loved one can leave you with mental anguish. You may find it challenging to cope with their loss. If you’ve learned the death resulted because of someone else’s negligence, it’s likely your family will have an even harder time coming to terms with what happened.

While recovering compensation won’t bring your loved one back, it is the primary recourse that New Mexico law affords surviving spouses, minor children, and other close family members for seeking some semblance of justice for their untimely loss. A decedent’s personal representative can bring a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of that individual’s surviving children, spouse, or specific other relatives.

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit requires you to be able to demonstrate that the negligence that occurred directly resulted in an individual's passing. A legal professional from Buckingham & Vega Law Firm can detail what this involves. We're prepared to provide you with the resources necessary to help you build an airtight case to win an insurance company claim or at trial.

Call us at (505) 388-0066 or fill out this form.

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Our Results Make a Difference

Explore How We Have Helped Our Clients
  • $73.21 Million Verdict Birth Injury

    The Buckingham & Vega legal team secured a $73.21 million verdict on behalf of a baby who was catastrophically injured due to the negligence of their doctor and medical team.

  • Record-Setting $72 Million Verdict Birth Injury

    The Buckingham & Vega team obtained a $72 Million verdict in a birth injury case when an OB/ GYN failed to properly monitor the mom during pregnancy.

  • $16 Million Truck Accident

    Buckingham & Vega obtained a $16 million settlement in a truck accident case. The truck driver was speeding and inattentive (texting) and crashed into the rear of a pickup truck stopped at a stoplight.

  • $14 Million Dram Shop Liability

    Our team obtained a $14 million dram shop verdict on behalf of a client who was injured due to negligence.

  • 13 Million Work Injury

    Buckingham & Vega represented an oilfield worker who was killed when their company failed to properly train its employees on how to safely move waste bins. Our client was killed when he became trapped between two bins.

  • 13 Million Truck Accident

    Our team secured a 13 million settlement in a truck accident case. An eighteen-wheeler made an unsafe turn in front of a car driven by a grandmother and her family. The grandmother was killed and the family suffered severe injuries.

Defining Wrongful Death in New Mexico 

A common question that the personal injury attorneys at our law firm receive is what constitutes a wrongful death. The New Mexico Wrongful Death Act describes how a plaintiff must prove that a decedent passed away due to a wrongful act, such as neglect or default of another.

The New Mexico Wrongful Death Act goes on to describe how a death is deemed as wrongful when it stems from someone else’s negligence.

How Criminal Negligence May Give Way to Someone Filing a Wrongful Death Case

If a motorist runs a stop sign and strikes a pedestrian, killing them can warrant the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit. Although a driver may not have had the criminal intent to harm someone else, claiming their life, their moving violation left someone deceased, nonetheless. Filing a wrongful death case may allow you, as a surviving relative of the deceased, to hold a negligent individual accountable for their actions outside of how the criminal justice system handles them.

How Neglect May Warrant the Filing of an Albuquerque Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Neglect can also warrant the filing of a wrongful death action. Neglect is often cited as a factor in wrongful death lawsuits involving deceased nursing home residents. An Albuquerque wrongful death attorney may allege that staff members didn’t tend to the resident’s needs thus resulting in their premature death.

How Default of Another Warrants the Filing of a Wrongful Death Claim

The default of another concept refers to someone failing to take appropriate action that leads to the preventable death of another person. It’s not uncommon for Albuquerque, NM property owners to be sued for wrongful death in instances like this. Injury incidents would generally be filed solely as premises liability cases.

Other Types of Fatal Accidents That Result in New Mexico Wrongful Death Claims

Any number of circumstances, such as the careless, irresponsible, or negligent operation of a vehicle, can result in the unpredicted loss of life. A significant number of wrongful death claims are filed after a fatal accident such as a car crash. Data published by the New Mexico Department of Transportation in 2021 captured how 479 people died in traffic crashes.

Other wrongful death cases commonly stem from negligent doctors who engage in medical malpractice, individuals being killed by defective products, or suffering fatal injuries on dangerous premises.

No matter the fatal accident that took your loved one's life, you have the right to file a wrongful death claim on his or her behalf to seek recovery for the incurred losses.

New Mexico Laws That Could Impact a Wrongful Death Claim 

It’s important to understand that New Mexico law could impact the type of claim your family’s personal representative files. Our Albuquerque wrongful death attorneys have a comprehensive understanding of New Mexico law and will be sure to explain the rules to you as they apply to wrongful death claims.

Wrongful Death Claim Entitlement 

When a wrongful death claim is brought before a court, a judge or jury will decide the verdict on the basis of the evidence presented. The monetary compensation is likely to be based on who the heirs will be and what their needs are now and in the future.

Family members most commonly entitled to compensation include a surviving spouse, children, parents, and siblings. In general, the surviving spouse receives all the compensation if there are no children. If there are children, they split the compensation with the surviving spouse, or the kids keep it if there isn’t a spouse.

Parents are eligible for wrongful death benefits if the deceased person was a minor, childless, or unmarried at the time of their passing. Siblings are only eligible to recover compensation if there isn’t any surviving spouse, child, or parent.

If there is no one that fits the traditional descriptions detailed above, then a judge may decide to make payments to the next of kin. Depending on your family’s situation, it can be challenging to determine eligibility for compensation and other benefits. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to have an Albuquerque wrongful death lawyer from Buckingham & Vega Law Firm by your side.

Filing Requirements

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