Maryland Wrongful Death Lawsuit

This page will look at wrongful death lawsuits in Maryland. Our lawyers will explain how wrongful death lawsuits work and who is eligible to bring one of these cases when someone dies.

What is a Wrongful Death Claim?

Wrongful death is a legal claim that is brought by surviving family members of someone who has died as a result of the negligence, mistake, or intentional conduct of someone else. That negligence can be in the form of medical malpractice, negligent driving, or any other type of negligence.

Maryland’s Wrongful Death statute defines a “wrongful act” as any action or failure to act, including criminal behavior, that would have allowed the injured person to sue if they had lived.

Wrongful death claims are a relatively new legal development (last 150 years). Traditionally, under common law, only the injured party themselves had standing to sue. If that person died as a result of their injuries, the negligent party escaped liability. Wrongful death statutes were enacted in all states to correct this unfairness.

Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Maryland

A Maryland wrongful death lawsuit is brought the Wrongful Death statute that compensates the surviving family when the negligent, reckless, or intentional conduct of a party causes the death of another person. The aim is to compensate the decedent’s family members or estate for their loss. Maryland’s Wrongful Death statute is codified at Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 3-904.

The lawsuit is typically filed by a representative of the deceased’s estate on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries as defined by the Wrongful Death statute and Maryland estate laws. Beneficiaries can include a surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, or other family members depending on the circumstances.

Who is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Case?

Maryland law has strict rules and restrictions on what family members have legal standing to file a wrongful death claim. These rules limit the right to bring a wrongful death case to specific individuals, typically immediate family members. Under Maryland’s wrongful death statute, there are two categories of beneficiaries that are legally permitted to bring a wrongful death case:

Primary Beneficiaries: These include the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. If any of these individuals are living at the time of death, they have priority and are the only ones eligible to file a wrongful death claim.

Secondary Beneficiaries: If no primary beneficiaries are alive, other relatives such as siblings, cousins, or extended family members may be eligible to file a claim. However, they must demonstrate that they were financially dependent on the deceased.

If a person dies without any relatives who qualify as beneficiaries under the wrongful death statute (i.e., no siblings, parents, spouse, children, etc.) then there is no wrongful death claim.

3-Year Statute of Limitations for Maryland Wrongful Death Cases

A statute of limitations is like a legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. If the case is not filed before the “SOL” deadline expires, then the claim is barred.

Maryland wrongful death claims are subject to a 3-year statute of limitation. Md. Code Ann. Cts.& Jud. Proc. § 3-904(g)(1). The 3-year period begins to run from the date of death. So if an individual died on January 1, 2024, their beneficiaries must file the wrongful death lawsuit on or before January 1, 2027.

Wrongful Death Claims Can Revive Claims Previously Time Barred

A wrongful death claim in Maryland can be filed within 3 years after the person dies, even when the decedent themselves was not eligible to file a lawsuit because the statute of limitations on their own claim had previously expired.

For example, let’s say Jane’s doctor negligently failed to diagnose her cancer back in 2020. Jane had a claim against the doctor for medical malpractice. However, the statute of limitation on that malpractice claim expired in 2023 before Jane ever filed a lawsuit.  At that point, Jane herself was time barred from suing the doctor for malpractice. However, if Jane dies in 2024 from the undiagnosed cancer, her surviving spouse WILL be able bring that medical malpractice case as a wrongful death claim. Jane’s death basically resets the clock on the SOL for wrongful death claims. See  Mummert v. Alizadeh, 435 Md. 207 (2013) (holding that wrongful death is an independent claim not contingent on whether decedent’s SOL had expired prior to death).

Damages Available for Wrongful Death

Recoverable damages in a wrongful death suit may include loss of financial support, companionship, comfort, guidance, and other services provided by the decedent. Additionally, recovery can include sorrow, mental anguish, and solace, which may include society, companionship, comfort, guidance, and advice of the decedent.  Medical and funeral expenses related to the deceased’s injury or illness can also be recovered.

The average settlement in a wrongful death case varies depending on the circumstances, but most settlements fall between $300,000 and $2,000,000. Trial verdicts in wrongful death cases tend to be higher, as settlements represent a compromise for less than full value.

The largest wrongful death settlements typically occur in medical malpractice or truck accident cases, due to the availability of substantial insurance coverage. Wrongful death auto accident cases generally result in much smaller settlements because the defendants have limited insurance coverage.

Cap on Damages in Maryland Wrongful Death Cases

In Maryland, there is no cap on economic damages in wrongful death cases. However, there is a cap on non-economic damages. Non-economic damages refers to damages for “pain and suffering” and thing of that nature. This is significant because pain and suffering damages often comprise a large portion of the total damages awarded by juries in injury cases.

As of October 1, 2024, the cap on non-economic damages in Maryland wrongful death claims has increased to $950,000 (in cases involving single beneficiaries). For cases involving multiple beneficiaries, the cap rises by 50%, allowing for a maximum of $1,425,000 in non-economic damages. This covers losses like emotional pain, suffering, and loss of companionship.

Wrongful Death Verdicts and Settlements

$500,000 Verdict (Maryland 2024): The decedent was prisoner who went to the prison health clinic (operated by the defendant) for treatment of a wound in his leg. Despite clear signs of a serious infection, the staff at the clinic did very little other than monitor him over a 4 day period. Eventually they transferred him to an actual hospital where he promptly died from sepsis. The lawsuit alleged that the clinic was negligent in failing to properly treat the infection.

$1,144,000 Verdict (Maryland 2023): The decedent was a 51-year-old male who committed suicide while taking Paxil, which had been prescribed by the defendant to treat his depression and anxiety/panic attacks. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant breached the standard of care by prescribing Paxil, a drug known to increase the risk of suicide, without conducting a physical examination of the decedent, failing to require regular office check-ups, and not providing the necessary monitoring.

$850,000 Settlement (Maryland 2022): The defendant ran a red light, struck another vehicle and went plowing into a parking lot and ran over the decedent who was working as an asphalt paver. The $850,000 settlement included contributions from multiple insurance policies, including $100,000 from the at-fault driver’s insurance.

$1,355,772 Verdict (Maryland 2020): The decedent, a man in his mid-60s, underwent spinal fusion surgery for back pain. During the procedure, the surgeon severed an artery in his vertebra causing him to suffer a stroke and eventually die. The wrongful death lawsuit alleged that the surgeon was negligent in using improper surgical techniques.

$2,585,529 Verdict (Maryland 2019): A woman in her 50s died from undiagnosed breast cancer. She had previously had a mammogram and ultrasound screening but those images were erroneously interpreted as normal by the radiologist. By the time the cancer was correctly identified on her next mammogram it was too late. Her family brought a wrongful death lawsuit against Advanced Radiology.

Contact Our Maryland Wrongful Death Lawyers

Contact the Maryland wrongful death lawyers at Miller & Zois for a free consultation. Call us at 800-553-8082 or contact us online.