New Jersey Wrongful Death Lawyer

Under New Jersey’s Wrongful Death Act, a claim exists when a death is caused by a wrongful act, neglect or default that would have allowed the person to sue had they lived. The person or company responsible is liable even if the conduct was also a crime. Typical causes include vehicle crashes, construction site accidents, dangerous property conditions and falls, medical malpractice, defective products, criminal acts and exposure to toxic substances.

The decedent’s representative brings the case: an administrator ad prosequendum or general administrator or, if a will has been probated, the executor named in it. Since 2021, a person qualified for appointment who files before being appointed can be designated by the court, with the pleadings relating back to the first filing. The money recovered belongs to the family members entitled to inherit under New Jersey’s intestacy rules.

The death claim recovers the survivors’ financial losses: the net income the decedent would have contributed and the financial value of the services, care, guidance, advice and companionship they would have provided, plus hospital, medical and funeral expenses. It does not compensate grief or emotional distress. The decedent’s own medical bills, lost earnings and pain between the injury and death are recovered in the separate survival claim.

The wrongful death claim compensates the survivors for what they lost because of the death. The survival action continues the claim the decedent would have had: medical expenses, lost earnings, disability, loss of enjoyment and pain and suffering between the injury and death, plus funeral and burial expenses. Both are usually brought together by the same representative. When the injuries caused the death, both generally run two years from the death; a claim already time-barred before the death is not revived.

No. New Jersey’s model jury instruction tells jurors not to consider the survivors’ emotional distress, anguish or grief, or the loss of emotional satisfaction from the decedent’s companionship. Companionship, advice and guidance are compensated only for their financial value. Some websites suggest otherwise, but the statute still measures the death claim by “pecuniary injuries.” The decedent’s own suffering before death belongs to the survival claim.

Generally two years from the date of death, for the wrongful death claim and for a survival claim based on the injuries that caused the death; a claim already time-barred before the death is not revived. There is no time limit if the death resulted from murder, aggravated manslaughter or manslaughter and the defendant was convicted, found not guilty by reason of insanity or adjudicated delinquent. A public-entity notice is generally due within 90 days after the claim accrues.

Someone must be appointed to bring the case, usually as administrator ad prosequendum, unless a probated will names an executor who qualifies. Since a 2021 amendment, a qualified person who files before being appointed can be designated by the court and amend the pleadings so they relate back. When an administrator ad prosequendum brings the suit, payment must go to the duly appointed general administrator who has filed an adequate bond, not to the administrator ad prosequendum.

The Tort Claims Act applies to death claims: a written notice of claim must reach the specific public entity within 90 days after the claim accrues, suit may follow six months after it is received, and it generally must be filed within two years of accrual. Late notice is possible only within one year, by court order, for extraordinary circumstances. Punitive damages are not available against a public entity.

The recovery belongs to the people entitled to the decedent’s personal property under the intestacy rules, in the proportions those rules and the statute set; the statute has its own rule when a spouse and descendants survive, and court guidance notes that 2005 probate changes may affect who takes. If any beneficiary depended on the decedent, a judge, not the jury, apportions the recovery fairly, considering ages, health, education needs, finances and other support.