When you feel like someone is responsible for the death of your loved one, it is only natural to want to feel vindicated by pursuing a wrongful death case. However, not every death, even if it may have been wrongful circumstances, will stand up strong enough to help you win a case against the person you think is responsible. There is a great burden of proof in any civil case, but in a wrongful death claim, the burden of proof can be really complex. There are basically three different elements that you will have to prove in order to be taken seriously in a wrongful death case. 

Proof That There Was a Specific Duty of Care by the Negligent Party

Regardless of whether the person responsible was a driver on the roadway, a doctor in a hospital, or a construction contractor, all of these people have a specific duty of care. Drivers know that they are to follow the rules of the road to keep themselves and other drivers safe; doctors have a code of care that must be followed when it comes to caring for their patients; even construction contractors have to follow safety regulations to prevent causing injuries. In a wrongful death case, you have to prove that the person responsible was in a position that came along with a specific duty of care.

Proof That the Duty of Care Was Disregarded or Breached

Not only will you have to prove that a person had a specific duty of care, you will have to show where they were negligent. In a wrongful death case, this is one very important component to bring up because this will be the difference between what could be deemed accidental, and what could have been specifically changed by the responsible person to avoid the problem. 

Proof of Directly Causing the Death of Your Loved One 

Beyond everything else, a wrongful death attorney who takes on your case will be looking at how you can prove causation. Causation basically means that you can prove that a specific negligent action is exactly what caused the death of your loved one. For example, if a driver hits a pedestrian on the sidewalk with an existing heart condition and the pedestrian later has a heart attack and passes away, causation may be questioned because even though duty of care was disregarded, the cause of death could be questionable. 

​If you believe that you have enough proof to show that someone is directly responsible for the death of your loved one, click here to contact a wrongful death attorney for advice. Even though it can be difficult to prove a wrongful death case, you should not let your concerns go unaddressed.