Wrongful Death Claims in Pennsylvania

When someone dies in Pennsylvania due to violence or negligence, the family or the heirs of the person who has died may have legal claims for compensation called wrongful death and survival claims.

Common types of events that lead to these legal claims include murder, motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, death in the workplace and other situations in which the loved one has died due to violence or due to carelessness of someone else.

If you have a family member who has died and you would like your wrongful death claim to be investigated, please contact me.

Here are the Intestacy (Wrongful Death) Laws in Pa…

Estate priority under intestate laws is as follows:

If a spouse is living but no children or parents, the spouse is given everything.

If there is a spouse and parents living and no children, everything is given to the spouse.

If there is a spouse and children, the spouse takes half of the estate. If the children are the spouse’s, the spouse also takes $30,000. If the children are not the spouse’s, the spouse only takes half of the estate. The children divide the remainder equally as long as they are all of the same generation.

In the instance of children and no spouse, the children take all. Shares are divided equally between the children of the same generation.

If there is no spouse, children, or parents, the personal representative can collect damages on behalf of the deceased for hospital, nursing, medical, and funeral expenses.

When children of different generations are involved, it gets more complicated. Intestacy laws for children of different generations includes:

The estate is divided into as many shares as there are living members of the nearest generation to the deceased, including deceased children who left behind children of their own. The share of each deceased person in the same generation is divided among his or her descendants in the same manner.