When a Preventable Loss Leaves Your Family Looking for Answers
When a death results from another person or company’s negligence or wrongful conduct, South Carolina law may provide a way to hold the responsible party financially accountable.
Sharpe & Leventis, LLC represents families in Columbia and surrounding South Carolina communities after fatal accidents and other incidents involving negligence.
We investigate what happened, identify the responsible parties, preserve evidence, and help families understand the legal process without treating their loss like just another case.
What Is a Wrongful Death Claim in South Carolina?
South Carolina law generally allows a wrongful death action when someone dies because of another person’s wrongful act, neglect, or default, and the deceased person would have been able to pursue an injury claim if they had survived.
That means a wrongful death claim usually begins with a basic question: Would your loved one have had a legal claim if they had survived?
The underlying event might involve a negligent driver, unsafe property, medical negligence, nursing home neglect, or another form of wrongful conduct.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in South Carolina?
The Personal Representative Brings the Claim
South Carolina law requires the wrongful death action to be brought by or in the name of the deceased person’s executor or administrator—often referred to generally as the personal representative of the estate.
So although a spouse, child, or parent may ultimately benefit from the claim, that does not necessarily mean the family member personally files the lawsuit in their individual name.
The Claim Is for the Benefit of the Family
Under the current statute, beneficiaries are generally prioritized as:
- Spouse and children
- Parent or parents
- The deceased person’s heirs
South Carolina law determines who qualifies and how wrongful death proceeds are distributed.
What Types of Cases Can Lead to Wrongful Death Claims?
A wrongful death claim can arise from many of the same circumstances that create a serious personal injury claim. Sharpe & Leventis can evaluate fatal incidents involving:
Car Accidents
A driver’s speeding, impairment, distraction, failure to yield, or other negligence may result in a fatal collision.
Truck Accidents
Commercial truck crashes can involve drivers, trucking companies, vehicle owners, maintenance providers, and other businesses.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists have little physical protection when another driver causes a collision.
Pedestrian Accidents
A pedestrian struck by a vehicle may suffer injuries that become fatal immediately or after hospitalization.
Medical Malpractice
Fatal medical negligence may involve misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, surgical errors, medication errors, or other failures in care.
Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect
Neglect, falls, untreated infections, medication problems, or other failures in care can sometimes contribute to a resident’s death.
Unsafe Property Conditions
Fatal falls and other dangerous property conditions may raise premises-liability questions.
Wrongful Death and Survival Claims Are Not the Same
Families may hear both terms after a fatal injury, but they address different losses.
A Wrongful Death Claim Focuses on the Family’s Loss
The wrongful death action seeks damages for the harm suffered by the statutory beneficiaries because their loved one died.
A Survival Action Preserves Certain Claims of the Deceased Person
South Carolina’s survival statute allows certain personal injury claims to survive a person’s death and continue through the legal representative of the estate.
Depending on the circumstances, a family may therefore have both a wrongful death claim and a survival claim arising from the same event.
South Carolina law also allows reasonable funeral expenses to be sought under either type of action, but those expenses may not be recovered twice.
What Compensation May Be Available in a Wrongful Death Case?
South Carolina wrongful death damages focus on the losses suffered by the statutory beneficiaries—not on assigning a dollar value to the life itself. South Carolina courts have recognized damages including:
Financial Loss
This may include the financial support, services, experience, or other economic contributions the deceased person would have provided.
Loss of Companionship and Society
A claim may account for the loss of the relationship, companionship, guidance, and presence of the person who died.
Grief and Emotional Loss
South Carolina courts recognize damages involving mental shock and suffering, wounded feelings, grief, and sorrow resulting from the death.
Funeral Expenses
Reasonable funeral expenses may be recoverable, although South Carolina law prevents the same funeral expense from being recovered in both a wrongful death and survival action.
Exemplary Damages in Certain Cases
South Carolina’s wrongful death statute permits exemplary damages when the wrongful conduct resulted from
recklessness, willfulness, or malice. Whether those damages are appropriate depends on the evidence.
How Sharpe & Leventis Handles a Wrongful Death Case
01
We Learn What Happened
We begin with the circumstances surrounding the injury and death, what the family has been told, and what questions remain unanswered.
02
We Identify the Proper Parties
We determine who may be responsible and what businesses, insurers, employers, healthcare providers, or other parties need to be investigated.
03
We Preserve and Gather Evidence
Depending on the case, that may include accident reports, photographs, video, medical records, witness statements, vehicle information, business records, electronic data, or other evidence.
04
We Address the Estate and Personal Representative
Because South Carolina requires the wrongful death action to be brought through the executor or administrator, we determine whether the proper representative is already in place and what procedural issues need to be addressed.
05
We Document What the Family Lost
A wrongful death case involves more than receipts. We work to understand the financial contributions, relationships, companionship, guidance, and other ways the death has affected the beneficiaries.
06
We Prepare the Case Around the Evidence
We handle communications with insurers and responsible parties, evaluate settlement proposals, and prepare for litigation when necessary.
What Happens If a Wrongful Death Case Settles?
A settlement of a wrongful death or survival action requires court approval, and only a duly appointed personal representative generally has authority to settle those claims.
Depending on whether litigation is already pending, approval may come through probate court, circuit court, or federal court. That process is intended to address matters such as:
- The terms of the settlement
- Available insurance
- Statutory beneficiaries
- Estate interests
- Appropriate distribution of proceeds
How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim in South Carolina?
South Carolina generally provides three years from the date of death to bring an action under the state’s wrongful death statutes. That does not mean a family should wait three years to investigate what happened.
Evidence can disappear much sooner. Vehicles may be repaired, surveillance footage may be erased, witnesses may become harder to find, businesses may dispose of records, and memories can fade.
Different procedural requirements may also apply when the death involves matters such as medical malpractice or governmental defendants.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a spouse or child personally file a wrongful death lawsuit in South Carolina?
Generally, the action itself must be brought by or in the name of the deceased person’s executor or administrator. A spouse and children may be statutory beneficiaries even though the personal representative is the person legally bringing the claim.
What if my loved one did not have a will?
The absence of a will does not necessarily prevent a wrongful death claim. An administrator may be appointed to serve as the personal representative of the estate. The specific probate process depends on the circumstances.
What if my loved one survived the accident for days or weeks before dying?
A wrongful death claim may still be possible if the evidence connects the original injury to the later death. A survival action may also become relevant depending on the circumstances.
Do there have to be criminal charges for a wrongful death lawsuit?
No. A wrongful death case is a civil action. A civil claim can potentially proceed even when there are no criminal charges. South Carolina’s wrongful death statute also expressly contemplates liability even when the circumstances could separately amount to a felony.
Can both a wrongful death claim and a survival claim be filed?
Potentially. They are separate legal claims addressing different losses. South Carolina law preserves certain personal injury claims through its survival statute while separately recognizing wrongful death actions for beneficiaries.
Contact Our Columbia Law Firm for a Free Consultation Today.
If you lost someone because of an accident, medical error, neglect, or other wrongful conduct, tell Sharpe & Leventis, LLC what happened.
We can review the circumstances, answer your questions, and help determine what legal options may be available to your family.