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After a death caused by someone else’s mistake, you need answers to three questions:
First, who can file a claim?
Second, how long do they have to file it?
Third, how do they file it?
Andretta Breaux-Atkins, licensed in Louisiana since 2016, represents families as a Baton Rouge wrongful death lawyer. She starts by listening to you, understanding what happened, and answering your questions, so you leave the first conversation knowing who can file and which date to protect. Contact us with the names of the surviving relatives and the dates of the injury and the death, and we will map out what could happen next..
Louisiana does not let every relative file. The law ranks four groups, and a group can file only when nobody in the groups above it survived.
La. Civ. Code art. 2315.2 sets this order. We check who survives before anything else, because that answer decides who can sue.
Louisiana gives a family one year from the date of death or two years from the day of the injury, whichever is longer. For example, if the person died within 12 months of the injury, the date two years from the injury is later. If the person lived more than 12 months after the injury, the date one year from the death is later.
A death tied to medical malpractice follows shorter rules. For the wrongful death claim, you have one year from the death. A survival claim covers what your loved one went through before dying. You have one year from the medical error or its discovery to file it, but no more than three years from the error.
Claims against government bodies can carry their own notice rules.
Filing a wrongful death lawsuit starts well before anything reaches a courtroom. Every case is different, but generally, our firm:
A case tied to a death in East Baton Rouge Parish usually goes to the 19th Judicial District Court at 300 North Boulevard in downtown Baton Rouge, which hears civil cases for the parish. Some cases belong in another parish or in federal court, depending on where the death happened and who the defendants are.
Both sides exchange evidence and take sworn testimony. Many cases settle during this stage, but if the defendants still will not offer fair compensation, the case goes to trial and the family’s attorney presents it to a judge or jury.
There are two parts to a recovery:
We do not estimate an amount until we have the records, because every case turns on its own facts.
Bring what you have, such as the death certificate, any police report, and the names of the surviving relatives. Missing papers will not stop the first meeting, because we can start with the dates and the family tree.
In most cases, no. The relatives on Louisiana’s list file in their own names. A succession representative steps in on the survival claim only when none of the listed relatives survived.
Louisiana’s list covers spouses and close family such as children and parents. An unmarried partner is not on it, though the couple’s children are. Tell us about the whole family, because the order of the list changes who can file.
Not necessarily. The criminal case and the family’s claim run separately under different rules. A family can ask us about a claim whether or not anyone faced charges.
Other policies can matter, including the family’s own uninsured motorist coverage. We look at every policy that could apply to the death.
The filing window runs while a family handles the funeral, the bills, and their grief. Contact the Law Office of Andretta Breaux-Atkins, LLC for an initial consultation. We can answer your questions and protect your rights during this difficult time.
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