Missouri has its share of fatal accidents.  Head-on car accidents resulting from driver inattention, crossing the centerline of traffic, or not following the Missouri rules of the road can result in catastrophic injury and/or death.  Our state has hundreds of miles of rural two lane roads, primarily due to our lack of several bustling metropolitan areas.  We also have fatal tractor-trailer crashes that everyone sees on the news, especially in the past few years.  Inattentive truck drivers that are traveling too fast for road conditions, or following other vehicles too closely, present a serious road hazard that can cause disaster.  So in the unfortunate event that a traffic fatality occurs, how is the civil justice system involved, and who else becomes involved in the claim?

The wrongful death statute will be triggered in the even of a fatal car accident in Missouri.  Any settlement that is obtained in a civil claim for wrongful death will have to be approved by a judge.  The death claim can be filed in either the associate division or circuit judge division in a Missouri state court.  Evidence must then be presented to the judge in the hopes that he or she will approve any proposed breakdown of compensation for all persons entitled to recover for the wrongful death claim.

People that are entitled to compensation for a fatal car accident or other fatal traffic accident are divided into groups, or "tiers."  There are 3 tiers or persons in this category of recovery.  Tier 1 claimants include parents, children, and the surviving spouse.  Tier 2 claimants include siblings and their decedents.  Tier 3, the final and lowest level, include a plaintiff ad litem. 

There are also specific types of compensation that can be recovered in a wrongful death claim in Missouri.  This includes compensation for economic loss, non-economic loss, and funeral & burial expenses.  A Missouri fatal accident lawyer will help you understand more about this complicated area of law, which can commonly become a heated claims situation between surviving family members.