What to Do After Losing Someone Near Hilton Head
None of this has a right order. Let friends and relatives take on the paperwork if you need them to.
- Your family first. The funeral, each other and rest come before any claim.
- Reports. Find out which agency responded, whether the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, Bluffton police, the Highway Patrol, SCDNR or the Coast Guard, and how to get copies.
- Death certificates. Order several; banks, insurers and courts ask for them.
- Belongings as they are. Store the vehicle, the boat, a helmet, a life jacket or clothing somewhere safe. Don't repair, sell or discard anything, and don't reset your loved one's phone.
- A notebook. Jot down each date, each witness and anything a nurse, trooper or boss told you.
- One folder. Medical bills, funeral receipts, pay stubs and insurer letters.
- Before signing. Get your questions answered first.
If your family was visiting the island when it happened, keep every paper from the hospital and the funeral home, wherever they were.
The Time Limit
Under South Carolina law, wrongful death lawsuits generally must be filed within three years of the person's death. Different rules may apply when a death involves medical malpractice, a government agency or other circumstances governed by special laws.13
A related survival claim may also have a different filing deadline. Opening an insurance claim, negotiating or handling probate generally does not stop the deadline.24 The survival claim and the death claim may not share a calendar.1
Who the Claim Is For
The beneficiaries are the surviving spouse and children, or, if there are none, the deceased person's parents; if none of those relatives survive, other legal heirs may benefit.5 A South Carolina wrongful death lawsuit must be brought by or in the name of the deceased person's personal representative, for the benefit of eligible surviving family members.6
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
What a Claim May Include
In a South Carolina wrongful death claim, a jury may award damages for the family's losses, which can include lost support and the family's grief, sorrow, mental shock and loss of companionship.7 Depending on the circumstances, funeral expenses and certain other financial losses may also be recoverable, and punitive damages may be available in qualifying cases involving sufficiently serious misconduct.8 Any amount turns on the evidence in your family's case.
Talk With Us
Nobody plans for this call. We go slowly and carefully, and we keep the person you lost at the center. We'd like to hear who they were, not only how they died. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Hilton Head, Bluffton and the rest of southern Beaufort County. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. See South Carolina wrongful death claims and, if the death followed medical care, medical malpractice near Hilton Head.
South Carolina Law on This
- Under South Carolina law, wrongful death lawsuits generally must be filed within three years of the person's death. However, different rules may apply when a death involves medical malpractice, a government agency, or other circumstances governed by special laws. A related survival claim may also have a different filing deadline.1
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.2
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.3
- Handling probate matters generally does not stop the filing deadline for a South Carolina wrongful death lawsuit.4
- In South Carolina, a wrongful death lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate on behalf of family members designated by law. The beneficiaries are the surviving spouse and children, or, if there are none, the deceased person's parents. If none of those relatives survive, other legal heirs may benefit from the claim.5
- A South Carolina wrongful death lawsuit must be brought by or in the name of the deceased person's personal representative, generally the executor or administrator of the estate, for the benefit of eligible surviving family members. Those beneficiaries do not ordinarily file individual wrongful death lawsuits in their own names, and if no personal representative has been appointed, that may be one of the first steps. The recovery is intended for the beneficiaries set by statute, not simply as the deceased person's will directs.6
- In a South Carolina wrongful death claim, a jury may award damages for the family's losses, which can include financial losses such as lost support, and the family's grief, sorrow, mental shock and loss of companionship.7
- Depending on the circumstances, funeral expenses and certain other financial losses may also be recoverable in a South Carolina wrongful death case. Punitive damages may be available in qualifying cases involving sufficiently serious misconduct.8
- Depending on the circumstances, a separate survival claim may be available for losses the deceased person experienced before death, including certain medical expenses and conscious pain and suffering. A wrongful death claim addresses losses suffered by eligible surviving family members. The two claims are legally distinct and may be pursued together when appropriate.9
- When an injured person dies, the injury claim they had does not end. Their estate's personal representative can pursue it as a survival claim, separate from a wrongful death claim.10
Frequently Asked Questions
Who in our family files the claim?
A South Carolina wrongful death lawsuit must be brought by or in the name of the personal representative, generally the executor or administrator of the estate, for the benefit of eligible family members.6 If no one has been appointed yet, that may be an early step, and family can still gather records and talk with a lawyer in the meantime.
Do we have a case?
Only the facts can answer that: the crash or incident report, the medical records, the witnesses. Going through them with a lawyer is the way to find out.
Should we finish probate first?
Can the medical bills from before Dad died be part of it?
Depending on the circumstances, a separate survival claim may be available for losses the deceased person experienced before death, including certain medical expenses and conscious pain and suffering.9 The wrongful death claim covers the family's losses, and the two can be brought together when appropriate.10
Sources
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-530(6) and 15-3-545
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530(6)
- S.C. Code §§ 15-51-10 and 15-51-20
- S.C. Code § 15-51-20
- S.C. Code § 15-51-40; S.C. Requests to Charge - Civil § 35-6 (wrongful death damages); Smith v. Wells, 258 S.C. 316, 188 S.E.2d 470 (1972)
- S.C. Code § 15-51-40
- S.C. Code § 15-5-90; S.C. Code § 15-51-10 et seq.
- S.C. Code § 15-5-90
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
