It’s not easy to know what to do if a parent dies in a Lyft. Who can you hold accountable for their death? What legal action can you take? Do you need to be involved in the criminal investigation the state opens against a negligent driver? Don’t panic. You have the right to focus on celebrating your loved one’s life. Our Indianapolis Lyft accident lawyers can handle the rest.
We can help children, be they minors or adults, outline their legal right to action after a loved one’s tragic death. We can then act on that right, representing a child in settlement negotiations and conversations about insurance claims. We do all of this on contingency and without infringing on a family’s right to grieve.
Ready to learn more? Let’s discuss how we can get justice for your parent’s death.
Minors’ Rights After a Parent’s Death in Indiana
Minors do not have the right to pursue personal injury claims or insurance claims on behalf of their deceased parents. Instead, the protection of a minor forfeits to the party stated in a parent’s will. That guardian may then take legal action on behalf of the deceased and name the child’s losses among the losses the guardian wants to recover.
However, the guardian only retains the right to act on behalf of the deceased if the deceased named them a personal representative in their will.
Exceptions may apply to these rulings if the minor in question is emancipated from their deceased parent. Interested parties can reach out to Indianapolis’s car accident lawyers to discuss minors’ rights in the wake of a parent’s death in more detail.
Your Case Will Get
The Attention It Deserves
Adult Children and Their Rights After a Parent’s Death
A person’s adult children may only take legal action on their behalf if a parent named that child their personal representative. There’s no complicated process a parent needs to go through to name a child their personal representative. Instead, the parent may put the child’s name in their will to outline the child’s role in their post-mortem legalities.
Adult children serving as a parent’s personal representative may pursue insurance claims and personal injury claims on the parent’s behalf. Should those children receive support based on their parent’s losses, they may distribute their awards to all parties who stand to benefit from the claim-filing process.
Adult children can discuss what their specific post-mortem roles look like when meeting with an Indianapolis personal injury lawyer. Our team strives to make it as easy as possible for adult children to mourn their parents while getting justice for their untimely deaths.
How to Hold Lyft Accountable for a Parent’s Death
You’ve determined that you have the right to take legal action after a parent’s death. How do you get the job done? According to Indiana law, you have the right to bring a personal injury claim against the party allegedly liable for your parent’s death so long as you act within the state’s statute of limitations.
This means that you have no more than two years to:
Find Evidence of Negligence
You cannot bring a parent’s Lyft accident claim forward without evidence of an offending driver’s negligence. That evidence can include the following:
- Data from Lyft’s app
- Other forms of electronic data
- Video footage of the accident
- Photos from before and after the accident
- Physical debris and evidence of environmental damage
- Witness statements
- Professional witness statements
Calculate the Value of Your Losses
You can’t assign a dollar value to your parent’s life. Our Indiana Lyft accident attorneys don’t try to. Instead, we assign value to the concrete losses you’ve endured as a result of your parent’s passing. These losses may include loss of income, the cost of your parent’s funeral, and the cost of any premortem healthcare.
You can also work with our team to establish the value of losses like your pain and suffering or reduced quality of life. These calculations go on to help you stabilize your financial situation, even if they can’t bring a parent back to you.
When you feel confident that you can manage your estate financially, you can dedicate more time to mourning your parent’s life.
When to Go to the Police
The accident that led to your parent’s death may constitute a crime in the laws of Indiana police officers. If it does, report your parent’s death to the police immediately. Do not pursue the person responsible for the Lyft accident that killed your loved one. Instead, wait for officers to arrive and advise you on what to do if your parent dies in a Lyft accident.
Most of the time, officers will ask you to provide testimony when they pursue a criminal case against the party responsible for your parent’s death. You cannot ask officers to increase the penalties a guilty party may face for their crimes, but you can elaborate on the losses you sustained due to the guilty party’s misconduct.
If you decide to pursue a personal injury claim against the liable party, make sure to include any information about their criminal case in your claim. For example, if Indiana’s criminal courts convict someone of manslaughter or murder before you move a personal injury claim forward, you can include that conviction as evidence of the liable party’s negligence.
Let Our Indiana Lyft Accident Lawyers Oversee Your Fight for Justice
No amount of money can replace a parent’s role in your life. We look to our parents for emotional support, day-to-day advice, and lifelong love – and it’s not fair for a corporation like Lyft to steal that away from you. That’s why our Lyft accident lawyers in Indiana want to advocate for you. We want to help you get the justice you deserve for a parent’s loss.
We understand that the rules in Indiana differ for minors and adult children. That’s why our team stands ready to break down the rights you have after your case. We can work through the circumstances that led to your parent’s death and your current standing in the eyes of the law. That work can subsequently outline what paths you have toward justice.
You can meet with our team free of charge immediately following a parent’s fatal Lyft accident. Don’t let the company get away with its injustices. We’re prepared to go to bat for you today.
