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A Florida wrongful death lawyer handles a case unlike any other in personal injury law, because the person who was harmed is not the one bringing the claim. At Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers, we represent the family left behind, and we take on the insurance side so they can focus on each other. Call 561-800-8000 for a free consultation, available 24/7.
What Sets Frankl Kominsky Apart in Wrongful Death Cases
An insurer often opens a file on a fatal accident before a family has had time to plan a funeral, and those early moves shape the months that follow. We work to close that gap quickly. We send an investigator to secure evidence and identify every liable party before critical details disappear.
- Over $250 million recovered for clients across Florida
- 60-plus years of combined litigation experience among our trial team
- Over 2,000 verified client reviews and a BBB A+ rating
- Recognition from Super Lawyers, the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Coverage from CBS, NBC, the Palm Beach Post, the Sun Sentinel, and the Miami Herald
- Staff fluent in Spanish and Creole, with a full Spanish-language site
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Our four Florida offices, in Boynton Beach, Pompano Beach, Port St. Lucie, and Palm Bay, support a statewide practice built to handle wrongful death claims wherever they arise. Call 561-800-8000 today to have your case reviewed at no cost.
When Does a Death Qualify as "Wrongful" Under Florida Law?
A death qualifies as wrongful when it results from another party's negligence, recklessness, or intentional act rather than from natural causes or a truly unavoidable accident. Florida's Wrongful Death Act lets a deceased person's survivors bring the same claim the deceased could have brought if they had lived.
A criminal investigation does not need to produce charges, or a conviction, before a civil claim can move forward. The two run on separate tracks and apply different standards of proof. A family does not have to wait on the criminal case to pursue civil accountability.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Florida?
Only the personal representative of the estate may file the wrongful death lawsuit under Florida Statute 768.20. The personal representative is the person named in the will, or appointed by a probate court when there is no will, to act for the estate. That one representative brings a single unified claim rather than each relative filing separately.
Eligible survivors under Florida Statute 768.18 generally include a surviving spouse, children, parents of a deceased minor child, and blood relatives or adoptive siblings who depended on the deceased for support. Blended families, adult children from a prior relationship, and long-term partners who never married make that list harder to settle. Getting it right early prevents delays once a settlement or verdict arrives.
Appointment itself is a separate court step, and it takes time a family rarely expects to spend. A petition goes to the probate division in the county where the deceased person lived, and letters of administration have to issue before the representative can sign anything on the estate's behalf. We open that process alongside the injury investigation so the two are not waiting on each other.
Eligibility disputes come up more often than families expect, and they can affect a case even when liability is clear. An estranged relative who reappears, a stepchild who was never formally adopted, or a sibling who gave informal financial support without a paper trail can each raise questions before proceeds are distributed. We resolve these early, ideally before settlement, so the claim does not become a family conflict.
Florida Wrongful Death Damages
Florida wrongful death damages fall into two groups: economic losses that carry a dollar figure and non-economic losses that compensate for harm no receipt can measure. Florida Statute 768.21 lists the categories, including lost support and services from the date of injury forward, medical and funeral expenses paid by the estate, and a spouse's or child's loss of companionship and guidance.
A surviving spouse may also recover for their own mental pain and suffering, and parents of a deceased minor child may recover for loss of companionship without proving financial dependency. Calculating lost future income takes more than averaging old paychecks, particularly for someone self-employed, early in a rising career, or contributing unpaid household work that would cost money to replace.
We bring in economic consultants to project what a full working life would have looked like, since an insurer's first number rarely accounts for raises, promotions, or benefits. Where the conduct was especially reckless, punitive damages may also be available. Punitive damages punish the wrongdoer rather than replace a loss, and they sit on top of compensatory damages, the categories that reimburse what the family actually lost.
A wrongful death damages claim is built from documents, not estimates. Tax returns, payroll records, benefit statements, and, for a self-employed decedent, business books all go into the file. Testimony from family, coworkers, and friends fills in the services and support a paycheck never captured.
Call 561-800-8000 to talk through what your family's claim may include. The consultation is free.
Florida Wrongful Death Statute of Limitations
Florida generally gives a family two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit, under Florida Statute 95.11(5)(e). The deadline applies no matter how clear liability looks. Missing it generally bars recovery entirely.
Some circumstances change the practical timeline. A claim against a government entity, such as a city, county, or state agency, requires written notice to that agency and to the Florida Department of Financial Services before suit can be filed, and the agency then has a set period to respond.
A defendant who cannot be identified right away, as in a hit-and-run, complicates the investigation even though the two-year deadline itself does not move. The practical answer is the same in both situations. We start the file immediately rather than treating two years as breathing room.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Florida?
Fatal accidents in Florida cluster around a handful of recurring patterns shaped by the state's highways, tourism, and population density. Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes account for a large share of the wrongful death claims we handle, particularly on corridors like I-95, the Florida Turnpike, and I-4.
Pedestrian and hit-and-run deaths carry their own urgency, since identifying the driver becomes a race against time before evidence disappears. Premises liability incidents, including falls from height in parking structures, hotels, and commercial buildings, produce a meaningful share of fatal claims. Bus accidents are less frequent but tend to involve several people and harder questions about which party bears responsibility.
Seasonal patterns shape when and where these crashes cluster. Winter tourist season puts out-of-state drivers unfamiliar with local roads onto the same highways as year-round residents. Summer afternoon storms cut visibility and slick the roads at the hour many commuters are heading home.
Wrongful Death Claims by Location
A wrongful death claim looks different depending on where in Florida it happens, since local courts, county procedures, and jury tendencies vary by region. We handle cases throughout South Florida, including Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, where dense traffic and heavy tourism drive a high volume of fatal crashes and premises liability incidents.
Along the Treasure Coast, around Port St. Lucie and Martin County, claims more often involve rural highway crashes and agricultural vehicle collisions. The Space Coast around Palm Bay and Brevard County brings its own mix of commuter traffic and seasonal tourism. Across roughly 60 Florida markets the legal framework stays the same, but the filing court and the carriers most active locally shift.
Venue matters more than most families realize when a crash happens near a county line or the defendant is based elsewhere. Florida law generally allows filing where the accident occurred, where the defendant lives or does business, or in some cases where the personal representative was appointed. That choice can affect the jury pool and how fast a case moves, and we make it with local knowledge rather than guesswork.
Court practice differs in ways that do not show up in the statute. Trial calendars, mediation requirements, and how quickly a division sets a case for hearing vary between the Fifteenth Circuit in Palm Beach County, the Seventeenth in Broward, and the Nineteenth on the Treasure Coast. Knowing those rhythms shapes how a case is scheduled and when settlement talks land.
When a Catastrophic Injury Becomes a Wrongful Death Claim
Not every fatal case begins with an instantly fatal injury. Some of the hardest claims start as catastrophic injury cases, where a person survives the accident for weeks or months before dying from the same event. The legal claim then changes shape, but the underlying facts do not.
These cases turn on proof that the death traces back to the original accident rather than to something unrelated. That means the records, bills, and timeline have to be gathered and preserved from the start. Insurers frequently take the position that another factor caused the death, and early documentation is the answer to it.
We build that record while the case is still an injury claim, not after. A family already coping with a catastrophic injury should know that if the worst happens, the claim can generally transition into a wrongful death case on the same evidence already gathered.
How Comparative Fault Affects a Florida Wrongful Death Claim
Florida uses modified comparative negligence, which means a recovery is reduced by the deceased person's own share of fault. Under Florida Statute 768.81(6), a party found greater than 50 percent at fault may not recover damages at all. A family whose loved one bore 50 percent or less can still recover, reduced by that share.
Because that threshold decides whether a claim survives at all, the fault percentage is often the real fight. Insurers raise it early, before a family has counsel or its own evidence. A prompt investigation that preserves witness accounts, camera footage, and physical evidence is the strongest response, and it matters most when the deceased cannot give their own account.
How Do Insurers Handle Florida Wrongful Death Claims?
Insurance companies move quickly on a fatal claim, often contacting a family before they have spoken with an attorney. An early offer rarely accounts for the full scope of the loss, particularly future income or the long-term value of a parent's or spouse's companionship.
Adjusters also request recorded statements, and the answers are later read closely for anything suggesting the deceased shared responsibility. Claims can also sit for weeks before a decision comes back. None of this requires a family to respond without guidance, and a case's value is rarely clear until the investigation and damages calculation are done.
Coverage is often layered, and the first policy identified is rarely the only one. A commercial vehicle may carry an employer's policy behind the driver's, a property owner may have an umbrella policy above the primary, and the deceased person's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can apply on top. We identify every policy before any number is discussed.
We handle those calls so your family does not have to. Call 561-800-8000 for a free case review.
FAQs: Florida Wrongful Death Lawyer
These questions come up most often once a family understands the basic framework behind a wrongful death claim.
Do I need a criminal conviction before filing a civil wrongful death claim?
No. A civil wrongful death claim runs independently of any criminal case and uses a lower standard of proof, so charges are not required and an acquittal does not end the civil claim. Prosecutors decide the criminal case, while the family, through the personal representative, controls the civil one.
Can more than one family member file a separate lawsuit?
No. Only the personal representative of the estate files, and that single claim covers every eligible survivor. Each survivor's individual losses are still identified and valued inside that one case, so no one is left out. This is part of why the representative is usually appointed early.
What if my loved one died from injuries weeks after the initial accident?
A delayed death does not prevent a claim. It does require clear evidence tying the death back to the original accident rather than to an unrelated cause, which is why records and the timeline should be preserved from the first day. We gather that proof as part of the investigation.
Does it cost anything to speak with a Florida wrongful death attorney?
No. Our consultations are free and available 24 hours a day, in English, Spanish, or Creole. We handle wrongful death cases on a contingency fee, meaning our fee comes only from money actually recovered for the family, so there is nothing owed up front.
What if the at-fault party has no insurance or limited coverage?
A claim can often proceed against more than one defendant, or through the deceased person's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage. Employers, property owners, and vehicle owners are sometimes liable alongside the driver. We look for every available policy before valuing a case.
How is a wrongful death case different from a survival action?
A wrongful death claim compensates survivors for their own losses, such as lost support and companionship. A survival action pursues damages the deceased person could have claimed for the harm endured between the injury and death. Florida law channels most of that recovery through the wrongful death claim.
Will my family have to testify in court?
Most wrongful death cases settle before trial. Family members may still give testimony in a deposition, which is sworn questioning that takes place in a conference room rather than a courtroom. We prepare you for it, and we are there with you throughout.
Speak with a Florida Wrongful Death Attorney Today
A wrongful death claim starts with a conversation, not a commitment, and the earlier it happens the more evidence remains available. At Frankl Kominsky Injury Lawyers, we have recovered more than $250 million for clients across Florida, backed by 60-plus years of combined trial experience and thousands of verified client reviews.
Results may vary. Prior case outcomes do not guarantee similar results.
Call 561-800-8000, available 24/7, for a free and confidential consultation in English, Spanish, or Creole. Never Settle For Less®.
