Survivorship Actions

Sometimes when a person is injured or seriously ill, he or she lingers in a hospital for an extended period before passing away. In the past, there was often no compensation available for the suffering endured after the accident and before death. With a survivorship action, however, those who survive the deceased can file a claim on his or her behalf for the injuries sustained and the suffering that resulted from those injuries before death.

A survivorship action is different from a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims are filed by the family or estate to compensate them for the loss of their loved one and the loss of income from that person. Survivorship actions, however, are filed by the estate to compensate the deceased for the deceased’s suffering and loss of income due to his or her injuries prior to death.

One of the biggest questions surrounding this claim is how to measure damages. It is difficult to determine exactly how much suffering was endured prior to death and post accident. The actual victim is not available to ask about pain levels since he or she has already passed.

Another problem is determining when a survivorship claim is a good idea. There are some that would try to file a survivorship action for an almost instantaneous death. This has generally been rejected by courts because there isn’t much to suggest that there was any suffering, since the victim died almost immediately. In general, survivorship actions apply only when there is a significant amount of time between the accident and the patient’s eventual death.

Contact Us

If you have been injured in an accident, contact a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130.