Wrongful Death Claims in Tennessee

If your loved one is killed because of another person’s negligence, you may be able to make a wrongful death claim. Here, Sadler Bailey explains who can bring a claim, and how compensation is handled.

Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in Tennessee?

In Tennessee, it’s pretty broad who can bring a wrongful death claim. Basically, just about anyone can bring a wrongful death claim, although it would be pretty unusual for a person who has no financial interest in it to do so. So you have scenarios that come up where the person who can bring the claim might not necessarily be the person who ultimately gets the recovery.

This is not uncommon. A case comes to mind right now, a wrongful death case that we’re involved in, where the case was being pursued was being brought by the adult sister of the deceased, but actually, the gentleman that was killed in this automobile wreck was survived by two minor children. They’re going to be the ones that get the money. Okay, so you’ve got an adult sister that brought the lawsuit, but she’s not going to be the one that gets the money. That’s going to go to his minor children. It’s really broken down in terms of next of kin. We have it all set by statute. The law sets by statute distribution of wrongful death proceeds.

Who Gets the Money from a Wrongful Death Claim in Tennessee?

In Tennessee, a wrongful death claim is handled very much like a distribution in case of a person who dies without a will. It’s all set by the Tennessee statutes, the Tennessee law. Next of kin, spouse would be first. Children would be next. Then you would go from there to parents, grandparents, siblings. It’s all set by statute. If a loved one has died in an automobile accident or medical malpractice or anything else in Tennessee, please call us as at Bailey & Greer: 901-680-9777 or you can reach us on the web at BaileyGreer.com.

Can the Creditors of a Person Killed in an Accident Take the Proceeds of a Wrongful Death Settlement?

Basically what you’re asking, so the person passes away in an automobile case, for example, and that person had creditors – are they going to get the money? The answer’s no. The proceeds of a wrongful death claim, they don’t really go through an estate. They are not subject to the claims of creditors. They go to statutorily designated beneficiaries. And that’s just simply, logical common sense, next of kin. That’s going to be starting with the spouse and then going to the children, and then the parents. But the most important consideration is the creditors do not have a claim to wrongful death proceeds.