Pompano Beach Wrongful Death Help
After a fatal crash, unsafe property condition, medical error, dangerous product, boating incident, or intentional act, grief is not the only thing a family must carry. Reports, insurers, probate questions, and legal deadlines can begin before anyone feels ready.
Miller & Jacobs helps families identify the personal representative, investigate what happened, preserve available proof, locate applicable insurance, and document the losses Florida law recognizes.
Our headquarters is in Pompano Beach. The consultation is free, and there is no attorney fee unless compensation is recovered for your family.
You do not need a death certificate, probate order, or complete file before calling.
The personal representative brings the case.
Survivors and the estate can have different losses.
Other claim types can involve different rules.
One does not automatically preserve the other.
What to Know First
A Florida wrongful-death action is not filed separately by every relative. The decedent's personal representative brings one action for qualifying damages belonging to the survivors and the estate.
That structure matters. The person named on the lawsuit is not necessarily the only person with a loss, and a person who inherits through probate does not automatically qualify for every wrongful-death damage category.
A Pompano Beach personal injury lawyer can help sort the cause of death, the estate appointment, eligible survivors, insurance coverage, and the records that should be requested first.
When the Questions Start Arriving
In the first days and weeks, a family may hear from law enforcement, a hospital, a medical examiner, a funeral home, an employer, an insurer, a property owner, or a corporate claims department. Not every request has the same urgency or serves the same interest.
Start With What You Have →01
Identify where the death occurred, who was present, which agency or business created the first report, and whether evidence may still exist.
02
Determine whether there is a will, whether it names a personal representative, and whether probate has opened.
03
Preserve reports, photographs, video, witnesses, records, insurance correspondence, and the identities of possible responsible parties.
What the Claim Must Connect
The legal work must connect four things without treating the family as a spreadsheet: why the death happened, who may be responsible, what each eligible survivor lost, and what the estate lost.
An act, omission, product failure, unsafe condition, or intentional act must be connected to the death through reliable evidence.
A driver, employer, carrier, property owner, provider, vessel operator, contractor, manufacturer, or public entity may require review.
Support, household services, companionship, protection, parental guidance, and mental pain are separate statutory categories.
The estate may have qualifying claims for earnings, net accumulations, and medical or funeral expenses charged to it.
The Name on the Case Is Not the Whole Family
The personal representative may be named in a will or appointed through probate. If there is no will, Florida law sets appointment preferences, subject to the court's appointment and qualification rules. A missing will does not prevent the family from asking what evidence or deadlines need attention.
Brings one action for qualifying survivor and estate losses
May have claims for support, services, companionship, protection, and mental pain.
Rights vary by age, surviving spouse, case type, and damage category.
Rights depend on the child's age, other survivors, and whether medical negligence is involved.
Certain relatives and adoptive siblings may qualify when dependent on the decedent.
May recover qualifying earnings, net accumulations, and charged expenses.
Florida defines “minor child” as under age 25 for this statute.
The probate court can appoint a qualified personal representative, and the appointment process can move alongside the civil investigation. Read who can file a Florida wrongful-death lawsuit →
Start with the people involved, what happened, and any records or insurer messages already available.
Florida Treats Survivor and Estate Losses Differently
Florida assigns different forms of recovery to different survivors and to the estate. The categories available in one family may not be available in another.
Support
Financial support and household services the decedent provided and probably would have continued to provide.
Spouse
A surviving spouse may have separate claims for relationship loss and mental pain.
Children
Qualifying children may have claims for lost instruction, guidance, companionship, and mental pain.
Parents
Availability depends on the child's age, other survivors, and the type of wrongful-death claim.
Expenses
Recovery depends on whether the survivor paid the expense or it became an obligation of the estate.
Estate
The estate may seek qualifying earnings and, when allowed, savings the decedent probably would have left.
Adult children and parents of adult children cannot recover certain noneconomic categories in a medical-negligence death case. Other economic or estate issues may still require review.
Estate awards may be subject to valid creditor claims in probate. Survivor awards represent separate statutory losses.
The Cause Changes the Evidence and Coverage
The right record depends on where the death occurred and who controlled the vehicle, property, product, vessel, medical care, or work being performed.
Roadways
Crash reports, vehicle inspections, data downloads, phone records, cameras, witnesses, toxicology, and auto or umbrella coverage may matter.
Commercial Vehicles
Driver qualification, logging data, dispatch, maintenance, cargo, hiring, supervision, carrier structure, and layered commercial policies may be central.
Property
Surveillance, access records, lighting, inspections, maintenance, prior complaints, vendor contracts, and notice can shape the claim.
Health and Care
Charts, orders, imaging, medication, monitoring, staffing, policies, and qualified medical review may be required.
Products and Work
Machines, warnings, manuals, repair history, custody, contractor roles, and control of the site may reveal several legal paths after a fatal construction accident, including a burn or fire-related injury.
Water and Recreation
Vessel ownership, operator conduct, electronics, weather, records, testing, charter documents, marina records, and maritime rules can affect the path.
Pompano Beach and Broward County Context
Pompano Beach matters can begin on a high-volume road, at a condominium or hotel, inside a care facility where nursing home neglect or abuse may have contributed to the death, on a worksite, or along the Intracoastal and marina network. Local context is useful when it identifies the agency, business, operator, insurer, or record system tied to the event.
High-Volume Roads
Law enforcement, vehicle owners, employers, carriers, businesses, contractors, and several insurers may hold records.
Property and Security
Control may be divided among an association, manager, security vendor, contractor, tenant, or owner.
Waterfront
Owners, operators, charters, marinas, rental companies, manufacturers, and other boaters may hold records.
Care and Work
Providers, corporate operators, staffing companies, employers, contractors, and manufacturers may each control evidence.
A Practical Family File
Bring what exists. A missing document is not a reason to postpone the call.
01
Report information
Agency, report number, location, date, witnesses, and involved businesses.
02
Death and medical records
Death certificate, autopsy information, hospital records, and provider names when available.
03
Photos, video, and devices
Scene images, vehicle or product photos, messages, doorbell video, and devices containing data.
04
Insurance communications
Claim numbers, letters, emails, texts, statement requests, releases, and authorizations.
05
Medical and funeral expenses
Bills, receipts, payment records, agreements, and related out-of-pocket costs.
06
Will and probate papers
Will, trust, letters of administration, probate notices, or the probate lawyer's name.
07
Income and benefits
Pay records, tax materials, pensions, retirement, life insurance, and employer benefits.
08
The family's own notes
Support, household work, caregiving, guidance, transportation, and routines the decedent provided.
Do not sign a broad release, dispose of an involved product or vehicle, erase messages, or guess in a recorded statement before understanding the request.
The Legal and Probate Tracks Move Together
Not every case follows the same schedule. The sequence should be built around what may be lost, which appointment is required, and how the other side responds.
01
Start with the event, contacts, changing evidence, and immediate requests.
02
Review the will and probate status, then coordinate an appointment if needed.
03
Seek reports, video, data, physical evidence, and records tied to responsibility.
04
Trace the death to people, businesses, property, vehicles, products, and insurance.
05
Separate survivor losses from estate losses and support each category.
06
Present a supported claim and file suit when the facts and deadline require it.
Two Cases Can Exist at the Same Time
The state controls a criminal prosecution. The personal representative controls the civil wrongful-death action. The cases serve different purposes, use different proof standards, and can move on different schedules.
Most Florida wrongful-death actions must be filed within two years. Intentional acts and other claim types can involve different rules.
Purpose
Criminal law addresses public punishment. Civil law addresses legal responsibility and statutory losses.
Decision-maker
A prosecutor controls the criminal case. The personal representative makes decisions for the civil claim.
Proof
The criminal burden is higher. A conviction is not always required for civil liability.
Deadline
Do not assume an arrest, investigation, or prosecution automatically pauses the civil deadline.
Help From Our Pompano Beach Headquarters
Miller & Jacobs meets families at its Pompano Beach headquarters and can also speak by phone or video. The firm serves clients across Broward County and throughout Florida.
POMPANO BEACH OFFICE
1600 S Federal Highway, Suite 1101
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
954-784-2277
Experience You Can Verify
Miller & Jacobs reports more than $150 million in verdicts and settlements. Mark J. Miller and Rick S. Jacobs have each been members of The Florida Bar since 1995 and report more than 230 jury trials combined.
$25M
Reported wrongful-death verdict
230+
Combined jury trials
1995
Both admitted to The Florida Bar
Partner
Former Assistant State Attorney, former insurance-defense lawyer, and more than 70 reported jury trials.
Partner
Former Miami-Dade Assistant State Attorney with more than 160 reported jury trials.
Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every matter depends on its facts, evidence, available coverage, losses, and law.
Clear Answers After a Preventable Death
These answers describe general Florida rules. The cause of death, family structure, probate status, defendants, and available evidence can change the analysis.
No. The death generally must result from conduct that would have allowed the person to bring a claim if death had not occurred.
The court-authorized personal representative files one action for eligible survivors and the estate.
The probate court can appoint a qualified representative. The family can still ask what evidence or deadlines require attention first.
Yes, when they qualify. Categories vary by relationship, dependency, age, surviving spouse, cause, and whether the loss belongs to a survivor or estate.
The general deadline is two years. Medical, government, maritime, product, and intentional-act matters can involve other rules.
No automatic rule requires that. The family should not assume the criminal process protects the civil claim.
Not automatically. The issue is whether the wrongful conduct caused or legally contributed to the death.
Fault may reduce recovery and, in many negligence cases, may bar it if greater than 50 percent. Medical negligence follows a different statutory rule.
Florida restricts certain noneconomic categories for adult children and parents of adult children. Other economic and estate issues may still require review.
The consultation is free. No attorney fee is owed unless compensation is recovered. Bring whatever information or records are available.
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