Eligible survivors
The law may recognize losses suffered by a spouse, children, parents, and certain other dependent relatives. Who qualifies depends on the relationship and statute.
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A preventable death can involve a crash, unsafe property, workplace event, product, or failure in care. Whatever the setting, your family should not have to accept the first version of what happened without understanding the records behind it.
No attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for you.
Families often call with a report, a few names, and a feeling that something has not been fully explained. That is a valid starting point. Katz can identify the missing records, responsible people or businesses, and legal role of the estate.
We explain the process in ordinary language, take over contact that should not fall on the family, and move the investigation forward without treating grief like a deadline-driven assignment.
Florida law places the wrongful death action with the personal representative, who brings it for the benefit of eligible survivors and the estate. That structure should be explained clearly, not dropped on the family as another burden.
The law may recognize losses suffered by a spouse, children, parents, and certain other dependent relatives. Who qualifies depends on the relationship and statute.
The estate may have its own recoverable losses. Appointment and estate-administration questions can affect how the claim moves forward.
Negligence, a wrongful act, a defective condition, professional conduct, or another legal basis must be supported by the facts and law.
Records, witnesses, experts, insurance, assets, and available defendants shape what can be proven and how the claim should be pursued.
Your family should not have to become the investigator. Katz can identify what may disappear, preserve the right sources, and build the facts in an order that respects both the case and the people living through the loss.
We identify scene evidence, recordings, records, data, and witnesses before summaries replace the underlying facts.
The investigation looks at who knew what, who controlled the risk, and what could reasonably have prevented the death.
The personal representative acts for the survivors and estate, so the role must be addressed correctly.
Financial support matters, but so do services, care, guidance, companionship, and the life lived within the family.
Fort Pierce Police, the St. Lucie County Sheriff, fire rescue, hospitals, businesses, property owners, employers, and the District 19 Medical Examiner may each hold a different part of the story. The claim should be built from the complete record, not one document.
US 1, Orange Avenue, Okeechobee Road, I-95, the waterfront, industrial areas, and local care settings create different evidence paths. We use the location to identify records and witnesses, not to decorate the page with geography.
“A life is not a spreadsheet. The legal work should still account for every way that life supported the people left behind.”
No honest lawyer can value a wrongful death from one call. The relationships, support, services, circumstances, evidence, and law all need careful review.
Florida's Wrongful Death Act addresses losses that may belong to eligible survivors and losses that may belong to the estate. The available categories depend on the relationships and circumstances, so the framework should be explained without promising that every category applies.
The categories and limitations appear in Florida Statute 768.21.
You can begin with the report, the names you know, or the part that does not add up. We will explain what can be checked and what should happen next.
You stay informed about the decisions that matter. Katz organizes the investigation, legal roles, insurers, and proof so the family is not asked to manage the case day to day.
We identify the event-specific records, witnesses, physical evidence, digital sources, and expert questions before avoidable gaps develop.
We help clarify the personal representative's role and connect the wrongful death work with estate issues that affect the claim.
We develop the financial, practical, and human evidence for the survivor and estate categories supported by Florida law.
We handle insurer contact, present the supported claim, respond to disputes, negotiate, and prepare for litigation when the facts and strategy call for it.
These answers are general information. The cause of death, family relationships, estate status, defendant, and applicable law can change the analysis.
Florida law generally requires the decedent's personal representative to bring the action for the benefit of eligible survivors and the estate. A spouse, child, parent, or another family member may start the conversation with Katz even if no representative has been appointed yet.
That does not prevent the family from asking for guidance. The St. Lucie County estate and family circumstances can be reviewed, and the necessary appointment steps can be coordinated with the wrongful death investigation.
Depending on the relationships and facts, Florida law may allow lost support and services, certain companionship and mental-pain losses, medical or funeral expenses, and specified estate losses. Not every category is available in every case.
A criminal case and a civil wrongful death claim serve different purposes and can move on different timelines. The civil evidence and filing requirements still need attention. Coordination can protect the civil claim without interfering with the criminal process.
Florida Statute 95.11 generally provides two years for a wrongful death action. Different defendants, claim types, pre-suit requirements, and statutory exceptions can change the analysis. Evidence may disappear much earlier, so the deadline should be reviewed rather than guessed.
Share what happened, who you lost, and what is pressing on your Fort Pierce family now. We will listen, explain what can be reviewed, and help you understand the next practical step.
CALL 772-933-5289No attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for you.