Losing someone you love can leave you facing painful decisions at a time when you are still trying to process what happened. You may have questions about who can take legal action, what steps to take, and how to protect your family’s future. Berger & Hicks, P.A. helps families in West Kendall understand their options after a wrongful death caused by a fatal car accident, medical error, or negligent security incident.
Under Florida law, the personal representative of the estate is generally the person with the authority to file a wrongful death lawsuit. That person may be a family member, but they are not always the person who feels prepared to manage a legal case while grieving.
Berger & Hicks, P.A. works directly with the estate’s personal representative to handle the legal process while the family focuses on healing. Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks help review the circumstances, gather important information, and build a claim based on the facts of the case.
Call (305) 670-7050 or fill out the contact form on this page to discuss who may have the legal authority to bring a wrongful death claim for your family. No fee unless recovery!
Schedule Your ConsultationWhy Choose Berger & Hicks, P.A. For A West Kendall Wrongful Death Claim?
Berger & Hicks, P.A. gives families in West Kendall direct access to the attorneys handling their wrongful death claim, not a rotating team of case managers.
Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks bring decades of experience handling serious personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida, including cases involving fatal car accidents, medical negligence, and unsafe property conditions.
Direct Attorney Access
Families work directly with Martin Berger or Zachary Hicks throughout the legal process. They take the time to understand what happened, answer questions, and explain the available legal options.
Decades Of Trial Experience
Martin Berger has handled personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death matters in Florida courts for more than 20 years. His courtroom experience provides insight into how these cases are prepared, presented, and evaluated.
Careful Case Evaluation
Wrongful death cases require a close review of the facts, evidence, and circumstances surrounding a person’s passing. Berger & Hicks, P.A. takes time to understand each family’s situation before determining the appropriate legal path forward.
Local Experience In Miami-Dade
Located at 9700 South Dixie Highway in Miami, Berger & Hicks, P.A. serves families in West Kendall, Homestead, and surrounding South Miami-Dade communities. The firm understands the local courts, legal process, and challenges families may face after a wrongful death.
Call Berger & Hicks, P.A. at (305) 670-7050 or complete the contact form on this page to discuss your family’s situation and learn what legal options may be available.
Schedule Your ConsultationWhat Qualifies As Wrongful Death Under Florida Law?
A wrongful death occurs under Florida law when a wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty causes a person's death, as defined in Florida Statute 768.19. The claim exists because the deceased person would have had the right to sue for their injuries had they survived.
This standard covers a wide range of fatal incidents. A car accident caused by a distracted driver, a surgical error that leads to fatal complications, and a fatal fall caused by inadequate property security all qualify under this same legal framework.
The claim belongs to the surviving family and the estate, not to the deceased person directly, which is why Florida channels every wrongful death case through a single legal representative rather than allowing separate lawsuits from each grieving relative.
Who Can Recover Damages In A Florida Wrongful Death Claim?
Florida law assigns different categories of damages to different survivors under Florida Statute 768.21, and the category a person falls into determines exactly what they may recover. The table below breaks down these categories directly.
| Survivor Type | Damages They May Recover |
| Surviving Spouse | Loss of companionship and protection, plus mental pain and suffering related to the loss. |
| Minor Children (Under 25) | Lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance, plus mental pain and suffering. |
| Adult Children | Lost parental companionship and mental pain and suffering only when no surviving spouse exists. |
| Parents Of A Deceased Minor Child | Mental pain and suffering connected to the loss. |
| The Estate | Medical and funeral expenses, lost wages, and lost prospective net accumulations. |
A surviving spouse and dependent children typically carry the strongest claims for non-economic damages, while adult children without a surviving parent step into that same category.
Florida also restricts mental pain and suffering damages for certain adult children and parents of adult children in wrongful death cases involving medical malpractice, a limitation that catches many families off guard.
Who Has The Legal Authority To File A Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Only the personal representative of the deceased person's estate holds the legal authority to file a Florida wrongful death lawsuit, under Florida Statute 768.20. This representative files one lawsuit covering every eligible survivor and the estate itself, rather than allowing individual family members to bring separate claims.
A will names this person directly. Without a will, or without a named representative, the probate court appoints one and issues letters of administration before any wrongful death suit moves forward.
Martin Berger brings 32 years of trial experience and an AV Preeminent rating to these cases, and Zachary Hicks brings 21 years of experience and a Super Lawyers recognition.
Both attorneys work directly with the personal representative from the probate appointment forward, coordinating the legal case in English or Spanish while that person manages the estate.
The representative must also identify every eligible survivor by name when filing, and missing a survivor creates problems that surface later in the case. Several concrete steps make up this early process.
- Securing Letters Of Administration: The probate court formally confirms who holds authority to act on the estate's behalf.
- Identifying Every Eligible Survivor: The representative lists the spouse, children, parents, and any dependent relatives who qualify under the statute.
- Filing The Complaint: The lawsuit names the at-fault party and states the wrongful act that caused the death.
- Coordinating With The Estate: The representative keeps the wrongful death claim separate from, but coordinated with, the probate estate proceedings.
Skipping or rushing any of these steps creates openings for a defense attorney to challenge the case on procedural grounds instead of the facts.
What Common Incidents Lead To Wrongful Death Claims In West Kendall?
Wrongful death claims in West Kendall most often stem from fatal car accidents, medical errors, and negligent property security. Each cause points toward a different set of defendants and a different type of evidence.
Certain patterns show up consistently in this part of Miami-Dade County.
- Fatal Car And Truck Accidents: Collisions involving distracted, impaired, or speeding drivers on the corridor's busy commercial roads.
- Negligent Security Incidents: Fatal assaults tied to broken gates, absent cameras, or unlit parking areas at apartment complexes and commercial properties.
- Defective Product Deaths: Fatalities caused by a malfunctioning vehicle part, appliance, or consumer product.
Each of these causes requires different documentation from the outset, from police crash reports to hospital records to property maintenance logs, and building the case correctly from the start protects the family's position later.
How Long Do You Have To File A Wrongful Death Claim In Florida?
Florida gives a personal representative two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit, under Florida Statute 95.11. This deadline runs from the date the person died, not the date of the original accident or medical error that eventually caused the death.
An exception applies to wrongful death claims based on intentional homicide. Florida law does not impose the standard wrongful death filing deadline for claims arising from murder or manslaughter, regardless of whether the responsible party has been arrested or convicted.
Florida also applies a modified comparative negligence rule under Florida Statute 768.81. If the deceased person is found more than 50 percent responsible for causing the incident, the damages available in the wrongful death claim may be affected based on the degree of fault assigned. This makes an early and accurate account of how the incident happened critical to preserving the case.
If the deceased person bore more than 50 percent of the fault for the incident that caused their death, the wrongful death claim is barred entirely, which makes an early and accurate account of how the incident happened critical to preserving the case.
How Do Insurance Companies Respond To Wrongful Death Claims?
Insurance companies assign experienced adjusters and defense attorneys to wrongful death claims immediately, since these cases carry the highest financial exposure of any personal injury matter. Big Insurance carriers use specific tactics to limit what they eventually pay a grieving family.
Several recurring strategies show up across these claims.
- Disputing Fault Percentage: Arguing the deceased person bore more than half the responsibility for the fatal incident.
- Minimizing Non-Economic Damages: Downplaying the value of companionship, guidance, and emotional loss claimed by surviving family members.
- Delaying The Investigation: Slow-walking document requests to run out the clock on witness memory and available evidence.
- Excluding Eligible Survivors: Challenging whether a specific family member actually qualifies as a dependent survivor under the statute.
None of these tactics reflect the true value of a family's loss. They reflect a financial strategy built to protect an insurer's balance sheet against the full weight of what a wrongful death claim represents.
Ask Berger & Hicks, P.A.
Q: My father died six months after his car accident. Does the deadline run from the accident or the death?
A: The two-year filing deadline runs from the date of death, not the date of the original accident. Your father's case would have until two years after the date he passed, based on the current version of Florida Statute 95.11.
Q: Can multiple family members file separate wrongful death lawsuits?
A: No, Florida law requires a single lawsuit filed by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of every eligible survivor. Individual family members cannot bring separate wrongful death claims against the same defendant.
Q: What if my sibling passed away without a will and no executor was named?
A: The probate court appoints a personal representative when no will names one, and that person then receives the legal authority to file. This step must happen before a wrongful death lawsuit can move forward.
Q: Does it matter if the person responsible for my loved one's death is also facing criminal charges?
A: No, a wrongful death lawsuit proceeds separately from any criminal case tied to the same death. A criminal conviction is not required for a wrongful death claim to succeed, and criminal charges do not need to be filed at all.
FAQ For West Kendall Wrongful Death Lawyers
Do I have to be the personal representative to receive money from a wrongful death claim?
No, you do not need to serve as the personal representative to receive damages. The representative files the lawsuit on behalf of all eligible survivors, and any damages awarded get distributed among those survivors according to their statutory category.
Can parents recover damages if their adult child died from medical malpractice?
No, Florida law specifically excludes mental pain and suffering damages for parents of an adult child when the death results from medical malpractice. This restriction applies regardless of how close the relationship was.
What happens if the at-fault party dies before the case finishes?
The claim generally proceeds against the deceased defendant's estate, though the personal representative needs to act quickly to substitute the proper party in the lawsuit. Delays here can create procedural complications that affect the case timeline.
Can I file a wrongful death claim if my loved one died working on the job?
This depends on the circumstances of the death and whether workers' compensation exclusivity rules apply to the employer. A third party outside the employment relationship, such as a negligent driver or defective equipment manufacturer, may still face a wrongful death claim.
How is a wrongful death claim different from a regular personal injury claim?
A wrongful death claim compensates surviving family members and the estate for the loss of the person, while a personal injury claim compensates the injured person directly for their own damages. Florida channels wrongful death claims through the personal representative rather than the injured party themselves, since that party has died.
File Your West Kendall Wrongful Death Claim With Clear Direction
Martin Berger and Zachary Hicks answer that question directly and handle the legal case from that point forward.
Call Berger & Hicks, P.A. at (305) 670-7050, submit the contact form on this page, or visit the firm at 9700 South Dixie Highway, Suite 850, Miami, FL 33156 to find out what comes next for your family. The consultation is free.
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