Has a funeral home broken trust and impacted the burial of a loved
one through negligence or incompetence? Dordulian Law Group's team
of funeral lawyers is here to help you recover maximum financial compensation.
Funeral Home Negligence Attorney
When a loved one passes away, honoring their memory through a respectful burial or cremation is one the most important steps a family can take. Recently bereaved families place an enormous amount of trust in funeral homes and their employees.
Sadly, many funeral homes abuse this sacred trust. Accordingly, families can be devastated as a result of funeral home greed, incompetence, or negligence. Abhorrent cases of perversion are often reported as well. When a funeral home breaks their sacred trust with a bereaved family, a personal injury lawsuit can be the best way to hold them accountable and ensure justice is served via a financial damages award.
Below we’ll outline the ways in which a family can obtain justice for a case of funeral home negligence.
What is funeral home negligence?
Funeral home negligence can manifest in many different ways. Funeral home directors and their employees are humans and of course prone to mistakes. Whether your case of funeral home negligence is due to incompetence or negligence, the funeral home attorneys at Dordulian Law group will fight to recover any eligible financial damages on your behalf.
Funeral home negligence is often a result of:
Incompetence (general, honest mistakes or human error)
Greed
Corruption and/or deception (cover-ups)
Sexual perversions
If you have been impacted by the burial of a loved one through negligence or incompetence, don’t wait to file a claim. Contact our expert attorneys online or by phone for a free consultation today.
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What are some examples of funeral home abuse?
Funeral homes are entrusted with an extraordinary amount of responsibility. The majority of these companies provide their specialized services without any resulting negligence or ill intent. However, when a funeral home does engage in incompetence, corruption, or greed, such actions are simply intolerable. Justice must be obtained for the impacted family.
With the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have experienced tragic and unfathomable loss. Sadly, instances of funeral home abuse and negligence are on the rise. Funeral homes are overwhelmed, and errors – both intentional and unintentional – are occurring more and more frequently. Funeral home operators are even lobbying for legislation that will protect them from lawsuits alleging negligence or intentional harm.
Recently, Kentucky’s legislature voted against blocking personal injury claims. However, to protect their interests, funeral homes will undoubtedly continue pursuing legislation seeking immunity from civil legislation. Accordingly, if you are a victim of funeral home abuse of negligence, it is in your best interest to file a claim as soon as possible.
Some common examples of funeral home abuse or neglect include:
Mishandling or misplacing the body
Improper or inadequate embalming
Improperly storing the body (leading to decay or disease)
Commingling of multiple corpses’ ashes
Placing the wrong body in the coffin
Placing multiple bodies in a single coffin or casket
Switching caskets surreptitiously (e.g. a less expensive model)
Delivering the deceased to the wrong gravesite
Robbing the corpse
Maiming the corpse
Sexually abusing the corpse
At Dordulian Law Group, our funeral abuse lawyers recently handled a claim involving a family who wished to move their deceased loved one from the U.S. to Mexico for burial. Unfortunately, the funeral home failed to take action for over 90 days. The family was unable to achieve closure via a completed burial for several months. We fought and recovered a $75,000 settlement* on their behalf.
This is just one of many scenarios impacting families across the country. Cases involving unrefrigerated bodies, abandoned bodies, assaulted bodies, and more are not uncommon.
Whatever your situation, the expert funeral home lawyers at DLG will fight to ensure you receive the damages you are entitled to, and justice is served.
Ready to file a claim and pursue justice through a financial damages award? Our expert attorneys are available online or by phone now.
How do you prove funeral home negligence?
If you’ve been harmed by a funeral home, you may feel helpless and believe that proving your case will be almost impossible. But proving negligence is something DLG’s team of funeral lawyers has decades of experience successfully achieving in all types of personal injury cases.
Proving liability in a funeral home abuse or neglect case generally involves four elements. Those elements include:
A duty of care was owed: Funeral homes owe clients a duty of care to treat the deceased honestly, respectfully, and professionally. Failing to do so means a duty of care was breached.
The funeral home breached that duty of care: By engaging in negligence or ill intent, the funeral home breached their legal obligation to avoid harming you and/or your loved one.
The funeral home’s breach directly led to harm: If the funeral home was responsible for any abuse or mistake, they are therefore legally liable.
Losses were suffered as a result: The funeral home’s actions led to an injury or injuries. Whether the corpse was physically injured and/or you and your family endured emotional/financial hardship, these types of losses should be compensated accordingly via a funeral home abuse civil lawsuit.
At Dordulian Law Group, our funeral home abuse clients have an added advantage in our Chief investigator, retired LAPD detective Moses Castillo. Castillo brings his decades of experience to each and every funeral home abuse case we handle. Having successfully closed some of the city’s most high-profile hit-and-run, sexual abuse, and physical assault cases, Castillo is an asset we utilize to help prove negligence in a funeral home abuse claim.
What types of damages can I recover from a funeral home abuse lawsuit?
Depending on the circumstances of your case, various types of damages may be recoverable. Some common damages recovered in funeral home abuse and neglect claims include:
Psychological trauma
Emotional distress
Reduced quality of life/loss of enjoyment
Funeral expenses
Other miscellaneous damages
When you bring your case to Dordulian Law Group, our experienced team of funeral home lawyers will assess the facts and develop a strategy to recover all available damages. Every type of loss/damage suffered will be accounted for when we pursue your funeral home abuse or neglect case.
What is the deadline for filing a funeral home abuse/neglect claim?
The standard statute of limitations for personal injury claims in California is two years from the date the incident occurred. That means you have two years from the date of discovering an instance of funeral home abuse or neglect to file a civil claim seeking to recoup financial damages. Exceptions to the two-year statute of limitations may apply in some cases, perhaps reducing the amount of time you have to file a claim.
To ensure your claim is filed in a timely manner and you do not miss a deadline, be sure to reach out to an experienced DLG funeral home lawyer as soon as possible to discuss your claim.
How much is my funeral home abuse case worth?
Victims of funeral home abuse and neglect may be entitled to substantial financial compensation. The facts related to your case as well as the extent of any negligence or harm committed on the part of the funeral home will impact how much your case is worth. The value of funeral home abuse claims can vary considerably on a case-by-case basis.
At DLG, we will fight to recover every available ounce of compensation following your unfortunate funeral home abuse or neglect experience. We will factor in all eligible types of harm you’ve endured – psychological, emotional, physical damage to the remains, etc. – to ensure you receive a maximum damages award.
How do I file a funeral home abuse civil lawsuit?
Filing a funeral home of abuse or neglect civil lawsuit is as easy as contacting an experienced and dedicated member of DLG. We are available 24/7 to answer your questions and help guide you through the legal process from start to finish.
A funeral home abuse case can be a traumatic experience for many members of a family. Given the significance of such a delicate matter, it’s important that you find an attorney who has experience in this type of law, but also someone who will exercise complete professionalism, compassion, and discretion when handling your claim.
At DLG, our client testimonials prove our dedication to each and every case we handle. We have successfully recovered over $100 million for injured clients, and managed to maintain a 98% trial success record in the process. We understand how devastating funeral home abuse cases can be, and we are here to provide the support and representation you need whenever you’re ready to pursue justice.
Client Review
“Thank you to all the staff, and attorney’s at Dordulian Law Group for an outstanding service. I was injured last year and my case was recently close. I will always be grateful to all the staff for your commitment. I will highly recommend to anyone.” Maria V.
Call (818) 322-4056 today to speak with an attorney and learn about how we can help you obtain justice following a tragic instance of funeral home abuse or negligence.
*This is not a guarantee of any outcome related to your individual claim. Results vary depending on the facts of the case, degree of negligence, etc.
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