Straight talk is good business.
Cole, Cole, Easly and Sciba Trial Attorneys can help you and your family through a wrongful death claim in Victoria.
It’s something no family wants to face, but unfortunately, any accident can turn fatal if the conditions are right. So while it might seem a bit cold to think about the legal process, our team can guide you and your family through it.
Set up a free consultation when you’re ready.
We’ll walk you through your options.
After losing someone you love in a fatal accident, the last thing you’re thinking about is a wrongful death claim. You’re focused on the right things: making funeral arrangements, calling relatives, maybe even helping your children process what happened. In short, you’re just trying to keep moving.
But the reality is that there’s probably an insurance company that’s already moving to protect itself and their policyholders.
On top of everything else you’re already facing, it’s helpful to someone on your side to:
The idea isn’t to turn this into some drawn-out legal ordeal. The idea is to make sure your family is not stuck trying to manage a complicated claim in the middle of your sadness and grief.
One of the biggest hesitations people have after a fatal accident is actually going forward with a claim. And it’s understandable with everything else going on around it. But a wrongful death claim is sometimes what your family needs to move forward because it gives you the financial breathing room to take care of the realities.
However, the process works a bit differently than a normal injury claim. Under Texas law, filing the claim is limited to certain people:
Once that’s sorted out, the process starts to look more familiar, moving forward through either:
With the claim filed, attention turns to the damages, which are also different in a wrongful death claim. They include things like:
There’s a couple key things to remember here. First, there’s still a deadline of two years from the date of the death to file the claim. And given all the potential complications, that can eat up a lot of time. It’s best to move early, which has its own difficulties in a wrongful death case. But there’s also the prospect of actually building the claim.
This part of a wrongful death claim can feel uncomfortable because you’re still processing a loss, and suddenly there’s talk about documents, records, and evidence. But the truth is, this information is what tells the full story of what happened to your loved one and why it should never have happened in the first place. Here’s what typically helps build a strong claim:
Most families do not have all of this gathered neatly, and they shouldn’t be expected to. Part of our job is collecting it, organizing it, and using it to build a claim that accurately reflects what your family has lost.
It also helps answer the next major question: who actually pays for our damages?
Wrongful death claims still come down to one central issue—negligence. In simple terms, that means showing that somebody acted carelessly, failed to do what they should have done, and that decision led to your loved one’s fatal injuries. It still depends on the circumstances, though, so any of the following could be left paying for your damages:
Sometimes, it’s one clearly responsible person. But other times, several people share the blame. And that complicates things because fingers get pointed and blame gets passed around. That’s why it’s important to look at how these accidents usually happen
As hard as this is to think about, fatal accidents in Victoria usually happen in very ordinary places during very normal moments of life. That’s part of what makes a wrongful death claim so difficult—the fatal accident likely could have been prevented in some way. But generally, fatal accidents involve the following:
With any one of these situations, it’s putting you and your family in the terrible position of having to face the loss of a loved one in something that probably shouldn’t have happened in the first place. But once you’re in it, you don’t have to go through it alone. Our team can guide you through it.
In most situations, the deadline is two years from the date of death, though certain exceptions can change that.
A wrongful death claim is technically a civil claim. That’s totally separate from a criminal claim, so you don’t need criminal charges to file.
Not always. Many wrongful death cases resolve through settlement, but every case should be prepared thoroughly in case litigation becomes necessary.
We communicate with clients clearly and tell them candidly what they can expect, given the specifics of the case.
We believe in giving back to the Victoria community. We support various organizations financially and with our time.
In 1954, Emmett Cole, Jr., returned to the crossroads area to found our practice after working a year at a Houston law firm.
We have provided effective, ethical legal representation throughout Texas and nationwide for more than 50 years.
