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 fatal event in West Palm Beach may involve more than one business, insurer, property owner, employer, provider, or public agency. Katz & Associates can secure the evidence, coordinate the estate issues, and press the right parties for real answers.
No attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for you.
Companies and carriers may begin collecting statements and protecting records immediately. The family is allowed to pause. Katz can take over the legal communication, identify who may be responsible, and explain what requires timely action.
We do not reduce the loss to a demand letter. The work begins with the facts, the person who was lost, the family relationships, and the evidence necessary to hold the responsible parties to account.
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 target video, electronic data, reports, policies, communications, and other records held outside public agencies.
Corporate names, contracts, ownership, control, employment, and insurance are separated so the right parties answer.
The representative, estate, civil timeline, and any special notice or pre-suit requirements must align.
We build evidence of support, services, relationships, guidance, companionship, and the family’s changed future.
West Palm Beach Police, Palm Beach County agencies, hospitals, property owners, transit or commercial operators, employers, and the county medical examiner can hold different pieces of the record. The investigation has to connect them before important context is lost.
Okeechobee Boulevard, Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, US 1, I-95, downtown properties, work sites, and medical facilities create different evidence and insurance paths. The city context should sharpen the investigation.
“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 do not have to take another insurer call or identify every company first. Start with what happened, and we will organize the legal work.
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 Palm Beach 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 West Palm Beach 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.