KNR delivers answers and justice after a tragic loss. Let us explain the law and fight for what your family needs.
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800-487-8669This company was awesome. They were very helpful and made sure I received the medical and financial treatment that I needed and deserved. Everyone was very kind and patient through the very stressful process. If you are ever in an accident and are injured, don't call anyone else but them. They are the best!
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Legal Help for the Grieving
In addition to the pain and grief of your loss, you may be facing the stress of settling your family member’s financial and legal affairs and planning for a future without them. If your loved one was a significant, or the sole, contributor to your family’s income, the weeks after a death can feel impossible.
During this time, an Ohio wrongful death attorney at Kisling, Nestico & Redick can take the legal burden off your family. When the loss of your family member was the result of someone else’s carelessness, Ohio law gives your family the right to pursue a wrongful death claim. Call 1-800-HURT-NOW for a free, confidential consultation.
Getting answers and recovering what your family needs after a sudden death involves probate court, insurance companies, and deadlines that do not pause for grief. The wrongful death statute of limitations limits how long you have to file, and the burden of proving what happened falls on the family. A capable wrongful death attorney carries that burden so you can concentrate on your family.
Kisling, Nestico & Redick has decades of combined experience helping families after fatal accidents across Ohio, and a record of settlements and verdicts for people who lost a loved one to negligence. When you hire us, we investigate what happened, identify everyone responsible, gather the evidence that tells your family member’s story, and hold the responsible parties accountable for the compensation the law provides.
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Ohio law defines a wrongful death as a death caused by a wrongful act, neglect, or default that would have supported an injury claim if the person had lived. In plain terms: if your family member could have sued for their injuries had they survived, the family can sue for the death. The person or company responsible does not have to have intended harm. A distracted driver, a surgeon who missed an obvious warning sign, a nursing home that left a resident unattended, or a manufacturer that sold a defective part can all be liable for a death they caused through carelessness.
A wrongful death claim is a civil action, separate from any criminal charges. A driver who caused a fatal crash may be prosecuted by the state and sued by the family at the same time, and the outcome of one does not decide the other. The civil claim uses a lower standard of proof, and it is the main path to compensation for the family. Start with understanding Ohio wrongful death laws in plain terms, and if you are unsure whether what happened qualifies, ask yourself the questions we ask first: do you have a valid wrongful death claim?
Ohio does not let each grieving relative file a separate lawsuit. The claim is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate, on behalf of the family. The personal representative is the executor named in the will or, when there is no will, an administrator appointed by the probate court in the county where your loved one lived. If no estate exists yet, one has to be opened, and we handle that step for families who have never dealt with probate.
The claim is brought for the benefit of the surviving spouse, the children, and the parents of the deceased, who are presumed under Ohio law to have suffered a loss. Other next of kin, such as siblings or grandparents, are also wrongful death beneficiaries if they can show what the death cost them. The practical side of filing a lawsuit on behalf of a loved one is less daunting than it sounds when a lawyer handles the probate filings.
Two separate claims usually arise from one death, and families often hear the terms used interchangeably. They are not the same thing.
A wrongful death claim belongs to the family. It compensates the survivors for what they lost: financial support, services, companionship, and their own mental anguish.
A survival action belongs to the estate. It is the claim your loved one could have brought had they lived, and it “survives” their death. It covers the conscious pain and suffering your family member experienced before dying, their medical bills, and their lost wages between the injury and the death. When someone lives for days or weeks after a crash or a medical error, the survival action can be substantial.
Both claims are typically filed together in one lawsuit, and the money recovered is distributed differently: wrongful death proceeds go to the beneficiaries, and the proceeds of survival actions pass through the estate.
Traffic crashes are a frequent source of wrongful death claims in Ohio. Fatal car accidents caused by speeding, distraction, and impairment, and fatal truck accidents involving carriers, drivers, and maintenance contractors who share responsibility, require fast evidence preservation and a firm that knows the insurers on the other side.
Riders have almost no protection in a crash, and many are killed by a driver who turned left across their path or never saw them. Insurers reach for rider bias even after a fatal motorcycle accident, and we answer it with evidence.
A missed diagnosis, a surgical error, a medication mistake, or an emergency room that sent a patient home with a heart attack can be fatal. Medical negligence deaths must be filed with an affidavit of merit from a medical expert, and the four-year outer limit on medical claims can apply, so these claims cannot wait.
Fatal falls, bedsores, dehydration, medication errors, and untreated infections kill nursing home residents every year in Ohio. Our nursing home abuse lawyers hold facilities and their corporate owners accountable when neglect leads to a death.
When a worker is killed on the job, the family may have both a workers’ compensation death benefit claim and a wrongful death claim against a third party such as a contractor, equipment manufacturer, or property owner. Our workers’ compensation lawyers and wrongful death team handle both together.
Vehicles, tires, medical devices, drugs, and household products that kill because of a design or manufacturing defect give rise to a claim against the manufacturer and, in some cases, the seller. Our product liability lawyers handle the technical side of these cases.
People struck while walking rarely survive a crash at highway speed, and some of these deaths are hit-and-runs. Our pedestrian accident lawyers identify the driver, the coverage, and every responsible party.
The family carries the burden of proving what happened, and the person who could best explain it is gone. The case is built from everything else:
Every case is different, but the path runs through the same stages:
Families also ask how they will manage in the meantime, and paying for a funeral after a wrongful death is usually the first problem; there are options while the claim is pending.
KNR’s statewide practice means a wrongful death lawyer near your family, in the county where the case will be filed. With offices across Ohio, we are a call or click away:
KNR also serves Ohio’s rural counties and conducts consultations by phone and Zoom.
Fight for Everything You’re Owed
When considering a wrongful death claim, you likely have many questions about the legal process, the types of compensation available, and what to expect as your claim moves forward.
Monetary compensation will not restore your loved one to your life, but it can help to protect your family’s future in the aftermath of your loss. At Kisling, Nestico & Redick, we understand the toll that the loss of a family member can take. Let us shoulder the burden of legal details so you can focus on healing from your loss.
Ohio law spells out the categories of wrongful death damages a family can recover. Depending on the circumstances of your case, the claim may include:
The reasonable funeral and burial expenses the family paid, recovered through the claim rather than absorbed by the household.
The financial support your family member would have provided over the rest of their working life, calculated from their earnings, benefits, and the years they had ahead of them, along with the value of the services they provided at home, from child care to home repair. An economist typically projects these losses to the end of the person’s expected working life and reduces them to a present value, and the insurer’s economist will project something smaller; the difference is argued with the person’s real work history and prospects.
What Ohio law calls loss of society: the companionship, care, guidance, protection, and advice the surviving spouse, children, and parents lost. For a child who lost a parent, this includes the training and education that parent would have provided.
The grief and emotional suffering of the surviving family members themselves.
The inheritance the family would have received had your loved one lived a full life and continued to earn and save.
Ohio generally allows two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. That date is not always the date of the accident; when a family member lives for weeks after a crash or a medical error, the clock starts when they die. There are exceptions that can shorten or extend the period, including different rules for deaths caused by medical negligence, so confirm your deadline with a lawyer as soon as you are able. The evidence that proves a wrongful death case is often gone long before the deadline arrives.
Ohio Personal Injury
KNR was able to obtain a 1.8 million dollar settlement in a wrongful death case against The Greater…
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What Makes KNR Special?
Since our inception in 2005, Kisling, Nestico & Redick has been dedicated to helping personal injury victims fight for the compensation they deserve after an accident affects their way of life. We have helped more than 10,000 people, and we’re ready to keep fighting for Ohioans and anyone who deserves compensation for their personal injury claims.
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Contact KNRWhat Makes KNR Special?
At KNR, we strive to make the process of getting what you deserve after a wrongful death claim or lawsuit more straightforward because what you are going through is hard enough. Getting legal help should not be.
The personal representative of the deceased person’s estate files the lawsuit, on behalf of the family. That is the executor named in the will or an administrator appointed by the probate court. The claim benefits the surviving spouse, children, and parents, who are presumed to have suffered a loss, and other next of kin who can show what the death cost them. If no estate has been opened, a lawyer can help the family have a representative appointed.
Generally two years from the date of death. Exceptions apply, including different rules for deaths caused by medical negligence, and the evidence needed to prove the case can disappear within weeks. Talk to a lawyer as soon as you are able so the deadline is calculated correctly and the evidence is preserved.
A wrongful death claim belongs to the family and compensates them for their own losses: financial support, services, companionship, and mental anguish. A survival action belongs to the estate and covers what your loved one experienced and lost before dying, including conscious pain and suffering and medical bills. The two are usually filed together in one lawsuit, and the proceeds are distributed differently.
The probate court decides. In Ohio, any wrongful death settlement has to be approved by the probate court, which also approves how the proceeds are divided among the surviving spouse, children, parents, and other beneficiaries. Families often agree on a division and present it to the court together; when they cannot agree, the court holds a hearing and decides based on each person’s relationship to the deceased and their loss. Survival action proceeds pass through the estate under the will or Ohio’s intestacy rules.
Nothing up front. KNR handles wrongful death cases on a contingency fee, which means the fee is a percentage of the recovery and is paid only if we recover money for your family. We advance the costs of the investigation, experts, and court filings. If there is no recovery, there is no fee and no cost. The consultation is free, and there is no obligation.
You do not have to decide anything today, but the evidence and the deadlines do not wait. Call 1-800-HURT-NOW or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation with an Ohio wrongful death attorney. There is no fee unless we recover for your family.
