Lawyers that handle wrongful death cases will tell you that in the old days, there was no case to be brought when a person died through the wrongdoing of another. The Georgia legislature passed the Georgia Wrongful Death laws to impose “… a penalty upon the person who causes the death of another by negligence, the penalty to go to the person injured.’ ” Brock v. Wedincamp, 253 Ga.App. 275, 281, 558 S.E.2d 836 (2002).
Each case is different though and a colleague recently called to ask whether the divorced mother of a child could sue the father of the child for causing the child’s death on a four wheeler. The answer is yes. I thought I would include the research here so that others can benefit.
Normally, when a person dies, their spouse has the right to bring the wrongful death claim for the value of the life, although children will be entitled to a portion if they exist. If the person is a child, then the right vests in the parents. If there is no spouse and the person has no children, then the right reverts upstream to the deceased person’s parents.