In the Weeks After a Loss
There's no right order for any of this, and others can carry the paperwork.
Before any of this, take the time you need with family and for the service. When you're ready, ask which agency responded and how to get the reports, and order a few copies of the death certificate. If a car, a product, a helmet or clothing was involved, keep it somewhere safe without repairing, selling or tossing it, and don't reset your loved one's phone. Write down dates, witnesses and anything doctors, officers or employers told you. Keep medical bills, funeral receipts, pay stubs and insurance letters together, and get your questions answered before signing anything.
Losses on the Grand Strand
Families lose people in crashes on US-501, SC-22, Kings Highway and the Bypass, in motorcycle wrecks on rally weekends, in boating accidents and in falls. When the person who died was visiting, the family may be dealing with all of this from another state.
The Filing Deadline
A South Carolina wrongful death suit generally must be filed within three years of the death. Cases involving medical malpractice, a government entity or other special laws may carry different deadlines or extra steps.3 A survival claim is separate and may raise its own timing questions.1 Insurance talks, settlement offers and probate generally won't stop the clock.24
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Who May Benefit
The law names which relatives benefit: generally a surviving spouse and children first, then parents if there's no spouse or child, and other heirs if none of those survive.5 The personal representative brings the case, but the recovery is for those beneficiaries.6
What May Be Recovered
A wrongful death claim may seek the family's losses, such as lost support, grief and loss of companionship.7 Funeral costs and some other financial losses may also be recoverable, and punitive damages may be available for sufficiently serious misconduct.8 What's available depends on the evidence and the law.
There's more on wrongful death claims in South Carolina.
Talk With Us
Your family didn't choose this. Tell us about the person: what they did for work, who they loved, what they meant to your family. If you hire us, the insurers can usually deal with us.
We take cases across South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. Our office is on King Street in Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone.
If the death followed medical care, see medical malpractice in Myrtle Beach. Tell us about the person you lost.
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 can bring the claim?
The suit is brought by the personal representative of the estate, usually the executor or administrator, for the eligible surviving family members. Getting someone appointed through probate court may come first if no one has been named.6 Until then, relatives can collect paperwork and ask questions.
Does our family have a case?
Every death is different. The reports, the medical records and the witnesses decide that question, and a lawyer can review them with you.
Should we wait until probate is finished?
Can we recover the hospital bills from before he died?
Our son died while visiting Myrtle Beach. We live in another state. Can we still talk?
Yes. You don't have to be in South Carolina for us to talk. The first conversation can happen by phone, whenever your family is ready.
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.
