White Plains Wrongful Death Lawyer
A death changes a family’s life in ways that go far beyond grief. Bills don’t pause, income the family relied on may disappear overnight, and someone often has to make decisions about an estate while still trying to process what happened. That burden becomes even heavier when the death might have been prevented if not for someone else’s carelessness or misconduct.
When negligence, misconduct, or another wrongful act results in a person’s death, New York law allows certain family members to pursue a claim against the party responsible. Finkelstein & Partners, LLP has represented individuals and families in personal injury cases across New York since 1959, and we’ve recovered more than $3.1 billion for our clients along the way.
If your family is dealing with the aftermath of an unexpected death, our law firm can investigate what happened, determine whether another party may be legally responsible, and pursue the maximum compensation available to your family under New York law.
Call us at 914-483-5316 to schedule an appointment
What Is a Wrongful Death Claim?
A wrongful death claim is a legal action brought after someone dies because of another person or organization’s negligence or misconduct. The claim seeks compensation for the financial losses caused by the death and holds the responsible party legally accountable.
To succeed in a wrongful death claim and recover compensation, the evidence generally must show that:
- The responsible party had a duty to act with reasonable care. For example, drivers must follow traffic laws, doctors must provide competent medical care, and property owners must address dangerous conditions they know about or should know about.
- That duty was breached. In other words, the person or organization failed to act as carefully as the situation required.
- That failure caused or contributed to the death. It is not enough to show that someone made a mistake; the mistake must be connected to the fatal outcome.
- The death caused measurable losses. These can include lost financial support, lost household services, medical expenses, and funeral costs.
These situations can take many forms. A driver who runs a red light and causes a fatal collision, a healthcare provider who misses a critical warning sign, or a property owner who fails to correct a dangerous condition may all potentially be held responsible under this framework.
Who Has the Right to Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in White Plains?
New York doesn’t allow individual family members to file a wrongful death lawsuit on their own, even when they were the deceased person’s closest relative. Instead, the law places that right specifically with the deceased person’s personal representative, such as the executor named in a will or an administrator the court appoints when no will exists. Importantly, the representative doesn’t pursue the case for their own benefit. They bring the action on behalf of the deceased person’s eligible distributees. Those beneficiaries may include a surviving spouse, children, parents, and, in some cases, other relatives.
What Damages Can You Recover in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
A wrongful death claim is meant to compensate the family for the financial impact of losing someone. In New York, that can include both the income the person would have provided and the value of the everyday support they contributed to the household. Compensation in these cases may include:
- Lost wages and financial support
- Loss of household services
- Loss of parental care, guidance, and education
- Medical and nursing expenses related to the final injury
- Funeral expenses
- Other financial losses caused by the death
- Punitive damages in certain cases
The value of a claim is not based on salary alone. Childcare, household work, caregiving, and parental guidance can all have financial value, and those losses may be considered when determining compensation.
How Do You Prove Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death cases carry a unique evidentiary challenge: the one person who could describe exactly what happened is no longer able to tell their side of the story. That makes reconstructing the events leading to the death one of the most important parts of building the case.
The evidence needed to do that can come from many different sources, including:
- Police or incident reports
- Photographs and video
- Witness statements
- Medical and autopsy records
- Vehicle or electronic data
- Employment and safety records
- Property maintenance records
- Product records
- Expert analysis or accident reconstruction
- Records showing prior complaints or known hazards
What evidence actually matters depends heavily on how the death occurred. A fatal motor vehicle accident requires a very different investigation than a medical malpractice claim or a defective product case, and our attorneys tailor the investigation to the facts from day one.
How Our White Plains Wrongful Death Lawyers Can Help
At Finkelstein & Partners, LLP, our personal injury attorneys have spent more than six decades representing injured New Yorkers and families facing life-changing losses. Since our firm was founded more than sixty years ago, we have recovered billions of dollars for our clients and built the resources needed to investigate, litigate, and try complex cases involving serious and fatal injuries.
That experience includes proven results in wrongful death cases. We have secured an $8.5 million recovery for the family of a pedestrian who was killed by a driver and a $1.25 million recovery for the mother of a teenager who died in a collision involving a driver’s-education vehicle and tractor-trailer.
When you work with our experienced wrongful death attorneys in White Plains, we can:
- Investigate how your loved one’s death occurred and preserve critical evidence
- Identify every person, business, or other entity that may share responsibility
- Work with accident reconstruction specialists, medical professionals, economists, and other experts when needed
- Document the income, household services, parental guidance, and other financial support your family has lost
- Handle negotiations, litigation, and trial preparation from start to finish
Throughout the case, we keep you informed, explain what to expect at each stage, and handle the legal and insurance issues involved in pursuing the claim.
Common Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle in White Plains
Fatal accidents can arise from many different situations, and our attorneys have represented Westchester County families across nearly all of them. Some of the most common types of wrongful death cases we handle include:
- Car accidents: Speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, failure to yield, and other negligent driving on roads like the Bronx River Parkway, the Hutchinson River Parkway, and Route 9
- Truck accidents: Driver fatigue, unsafe loading, maintenance failures, or trucking-company negligence
- Motorcycle accidents: Unsafe turns, failure to yield, and drivers failing to account for motorcyclists
- Pedestrian andbicycle accidents: Failure to yield, unsafe passing, speeding, and distracted driving, particularly in the congested corridors around downtown White Plains
- Construction accidents: Falls, unsafe equipment, collapsing structures, or violations involving third parties
- Medical malpractice: Diagnostic errors, surgical mistakes, medication errors, and other negligent treatment
- Nursing home negligence or abuse: Falls, medication errors, inadequate supervision, untreated infections, pressure ulcers, or other failures in care that contribute to a resident’s death
- Dangerous property conditions: Fatal falls, fires, inadequate security, structural hazards, or other unsafe conditions that a property owner failed to correct
- Defective products: Dangerous vehicles, machinery, medical devices, or consumer products that cause fatal injuries because of a design, manufacturing, or warning defect
Each of these situations calls for a different kind of investigation, and our attorneys build that investigation around the specific facts of how your loved one died rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wrongful Death Cases in White Plains
Schedule a Free Consultation With a White Plains Wrongful Death Lawyer at Finkelstein & Partners, LLP
Losing a family member to another party’s negligence often leaves you facing financial uncertainty on top of an already overwhelming loss, with little guidance on what to do next.
Our firm can investigate the cause of your loved one’s death, identify every party who may be responsible, document the losses recognized under New York law, and pursue the case on your family’s behalf. With a White Plains office, a free consultation, and our No Fee Promise, there’s no financial risk in finding out where your family stands.
Contact Finkelstein & Partners, LLP today to schedule a free consultation with a White Plains wrongful death lawyer.
Our White Plains Law Office Location
Finkelstein & Partners has a law office in White Plains located at One North Broadway Suite 900 White Plains, NY 10601.
Drop by our office to discuss your case with an attorney at no cost, or call us at 914-483-5316 to schedule an appointment.