Filing a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Excursion
Filing lawsuits for deaths during cruise ship excursions is emotionally taxing for survivors. Let us handle determining who is liable for a fatal accident, how much longer you have to file a lawsuit, and what evidence you need to prove liability.
Cruise ships may be liable for fatal excursion accidents, such as drowning accidents or car crashes. If the cruise bears liability, the victim’s personal representative should have three years to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Evidence that helps prove liability for a death during a cruise excursion includes eyewitness statements, medical records, photos, incident reports, and other evidence we can get on your behalf so that you and other survivors get enough damages.
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind today at (305) 204-5369 to have a free discussion about your case with our cruise ship injury lawyers.
Who Can File a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Excursion?
For most wrongful deaths due to cruise ship negligence, even during a land excursion, the Death on the High Seas Act applies. This gives the victim’s personal representative the right to seek damages against the vessel on behalf of the victim’s survivors, such as their spouse or children.
The court may appoint a personal representative if the victim did not name one in their will before their death. Let us determine if you are an eligible plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit against a cruise ship company, and if you are also an eligible beneficiary.
The victim’s surviving spouse, children, parents, and other relatives who are financially dependent on them get the damages awarded from a wrongful death lawsuit. We can explain how damages should be distributed among beneficiaries, so you know what to expect at the end of the case.
If your loved one recently died during a cruise ship land excursion, let us see whether or not you have a case and should file a lawsuit.
Who Can You Sue for a Death During a Cruise Land Excursion?
Deaths during cruise ship excursions may ultimately be the cruise ship company’s fault, making it liable in a wrongful death lawsuit. Failure to properly vet an excursion company or warn passengers of the dangers associated with a particular excursion can make a cruise liable.
If the excursion is a joint venture between the cruise ship company and another party, and the cruise ship profits from it, the cruise ship can be held accountable for injuries and deaths. The cruise ship may even be liable if it made it appear to passengers that it operated the excursion and the excursion was safe, thereby giving them a false sense of security.
Being able to hold a cruise ship company liable for a death during a land excursion makes seeking justice for a deceased loved one easier for survivors.
How Long Do You Have to File a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Excursion?
You don’t have an indefinite time to file a cruise ship wrongful death lawsuit. The Death on the High Seas Act generally gives plaintiffs one year to sue, though they may have to send a notice of a claim sooner than that.
Passenger contracts often contain clauses that require plaintiffs to provide notice of a claim before filing a lawsuit for injury or death. Failure to send notice within six months of an injury, death, or disappearance on a cruise ship excursion means plaintiffs may lose their right of recovery. You may still file a wrongful death lawsuit if you miss the notice of a claim requirement, provided an exception applies.
Since you don’t have much time to send notice of a claim after a fatal cruise ship accident, do not wait to contact us about the victim’s wrongful death. Let us handle notifying the cruise ship company of your intent to file a lawsuit and help you build and navigate your case.
What Evidence Do You Need to File a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Excursion?
To file a successful wrongful death lawsuit for a fatal cruise excursion, you need evidence of fault. Survivors may not be present during these fatal accidents, and can rely on our Jacksonville, FL boat injury lawyers for help preserving and procuring evidence.
For example, we can handle gathering the victim’s medical records and death records. We can also request incident reports from the cruise ship company or the excursion company, and get statements from any eyewitnesses who were present at the time.
Tell us if you know whether or not the victim signed a liability waiver before going on the excursion. We can review the waiver and determine if it is invalid, allowing you and other survivors to seek compensation. For example, if the victim died due to gross negligence, the court would likely not enforce the waiver or bar survivors from seeking damages.
What Damages Can You Get in a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Ship Land Excursion?
The Death on the High Seas Act generally restricts damages for survivors to pecuniary damages. Since non-economic damages for pain and suffering may not be recoverable in your lawsuit, let our lawyers maximize possible economic damages.
The following are all compensable economic damages for a death during a cruise excursion:
- Loss of financial support
- Loss of inheritance
- Loss of household services
- Medical expenses
- Funeral and burial expenses
Economic damages aren’t capped in these lawsuits, so do not underestimate your own and other survivors’ losses. That includes future economic damages, like ongoing lost wages because of the victim’s death. Let us identify all the pecuniary damages you and other beneficiaries have incurred so that we can seek compensation for all of them in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Call Us About Filing a Lawsuit for a Death During a Cruise Excursion
Call Rivkind Margulies & Rivkind at (305) 204-5369 for help from our cruise ship injury lawyers.
