Wrongful Death Lawyer
Illinois law gives a deceased person’s family the right to pursue the same claim the person could have brought had they survived, and our wrongful death lawyers at Hipskind & McAninch handle that claim so the family is not left figuring out insurance and court procedure alone during a period that is already hard enough.
John Hipskind and Brady McAninch built this firm around a specific piece of insider knowledge: both spent years defending large corporations and their insurers before switching sides.
That background is important because wrongful death claims are the kind of case where an insurance company deploys its most aggressive defense, precisely because the dollar amounts at stake tend to be higher.
Call 618-641-9189 anytime, 24/7, for a free and confidential consultation.
How Does Hipskind & McAninch Handle a Wrongful Death Claim?
Our approach starts with securing the evidence before it disappears: police reports, black box data in vehicle collision cases, maintenance records for truck or premises cases, and witness statements while memories are still fresh.
From there, we build a full picture of the financial and personal loss the family is facing, working with medical experts, economists, and accident reconstructionists where the case calls for it. Every case is different, and we never promise a specific outcome, but we do commit to handling the legal and insurance side of this so the family’s energy stays where it belongs.
The firm has recovered over $50,000,000 for clients, holds 500+ five-star Google reviews, and both founding attorneys carry Super Lawyers Rising Stars recognition three years running along with perfect Avvo ratings. Consultations are always free, available by phone, video, or in person depending on what works for the family.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Illinois?
Under Illinois law, a wrongful death claim is generally filed by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate, on behalf of the surviving spouse and next of kin.
The Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180, allows recovery for financial losses the family suffers as a result of the death, including lost income the deceased person would have earned and loss of the care, guidance, and companionship they provided.
If no estate has been opened yet, that is typically the first legal step, and we walk families through it rather than leaving them to figure out probate court procedure on their own.
What Kinds of Cases Lead to a Wrongful Death Claim?
Wrongful death claims in the Metro East and St. Louis metro tend to trace back to a smaller set of recurring causes, and each carries its own evidence trail.
| Cause of Death | What Drives the Dispute | Evidence to Preserve First |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal car accidents | The at-fault driver’s insurance policy limits often become the central point of negotiation | Police report, vehicle damage, and any available dashcam or traffic-camera footage |
| Fatal commercial truck accidents | Federal trucking regulations and the carrier’s own records can reveal the underlying cause | Driver logs, maintenance records, and black box or telematics data |
| Fatal falls and property-related incidents | Whether the property owner knew, or should have discovered, an unsafe condition | Inspection logs, maintenance records, and any prior complaints about the same hazard |
Each cause of death changes what evidence needs to be preserved first and which insurance policy, or policies are valid.
What Damages Can a Family Recover?
Illinois wrongful death damages fall into two broad categories: the financial support the deceased person would have provided, and the loss of companionship, guidance, and care the family experienced. This is a wider category of loss than many families expect. It is not limited to lost paychecks.
- Lost future income and benefits the deceased person was reasonably expected to earn over their remaining working years.
- Loss of companionship, guidance, and consortium, particularly significant in cases involving a spouse or a parent of young children.
- Funeral and burial expenses, along with any medical costs incurred between the incident and the death.
- Grief and sorrow experienced by the surviving spouse and next of kin, which Illinois law recognizes as a compensable loss in its own right.
A family does not need to itemize every category perfectly at the outset. Part of our firm’s work is documenting each of these losses properly so the full extent of the loss is represented, not just the easiest number to calculate.
How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Illinois requires a wrongful death claim to be filed within two years of the date of death, though certain circumstances, such as a claim involving a government entity, could shorten that window or add notice requirements.
Waiting to see how grief settles before speaking with a lawyer is understandable, and it is also the reason some families lose the option to file at all. A free consultation early on does not commit a family to anything, and it preserves the option while evidence is still available.
What If the Person Responsible Was Also Partly Not at Fault?
Illinois follows a modified comparative negligence standard under 735 ILCS 5/2-1116, meaning a wrongful death claim may still proceed even if the deceased person shared some responsibility for the incident, as long as that share stays at 50 percent or less.
Insurance companies frequently raise comparative fault early in wrongful death cases because the dollar values are higher and the incentive to reduce a payout is stronger. This is one more reason the initial investigation matters as much as it does.
What Is the Difference Between a Wrongful Death Claim and a Survival Action?
A wrongful death claim and a survival action recover different types of losses, and a family may be entitled to pursue both from the same case. The Illinois Wrongful Death Act compensates the surviving spouse and next of kin for what they lost.
The Illinois Survival Act, 755 ILCS 5/27-6, works differently. It preserves the claim the deceased person could have brought for their own injuries had they survived, including medical expenses, lost wages between the incident and death, and the pain and suffering they experienced during that time.
This distinction matters most when death does not happen immediately. If a loved one survived for hours, days, or weeks after an accident before passing, a survival action may recover damages tied specifically to that period, separate from the loss the family experiences going forward.
Money recovered through a survival action goes to the deceased person’s estate rather than directly to family members, and it passes through the same probate process used for the wrongful death claim itself.
What Should a Family Expect During Settlement Negotiations?
Settlement negotiations in a wrongful death case move through a sequence of demand, response, and counteroffer, and that process often takes months rather than weeks once both sides have the full medical and financial picture. An insurance company rarely makes its final offer first. The opening number is a starting point, not a signal of what the claim is actually worth.
A few patterns to look out for:
- An early lowball offer arrives before the full extent of loss is documented, timed to catch a grieving family before lost income projections and non-economic damages are fully calculated.
- The insurer requests extensive documentation of the family’s relationship with the deceased, since companionship and guidance damages depend on evidence a claim adjuster does not automatically accept at face value.
- Multiple rounds of negotiation are normal, not a sign something is wrong, particularly in cases involving high policy limits or more than one potential defendant.
Families sometimes read a slow negotiation as a bad sign, when in most cases it simply reflects the size and complexity of what is being valued. Our firm keeps families updated at each stage rather than leaving them to guess what a long silence means.
FAQ for Wrongful Death Lawyers
Generally yes, since Illinois requires a personal representative of the estate to bring the claim on the family’s behalf. Opening probate sounds like a separate legal project, but our firm handles coordinating that step so the family is not managing two court processes on their own.
A criminal case and a wrongful death claim run on separate tracks with separate standards of proof, and a wrongful death claim can proceed regardless of the criminal case’s outcome or timeline. The two cases sometimes share evidence, but neither controls the other.
Illinois law allocates a wrongful death recovery among the surviving spouse and next of kin according to the financial and emotional dependency each person had on the deceased, not necessarily in equal shares. This allocation is typically determined by the probate court overseeing the estate.
It depends on what was signed. A payment toward funeral expenses is different from a signed release of all future claims, and reviewing exactly what was agreed to before assuming the case is closed is worth a free consultation on its own.
No. A wrongful death claim is a civil case seeking financial compensation for the family’s loss, while criminal charges are a separate matter pursued by the state and aimed at punishment rather than compensation.
Next of kin generally includes the surviving spouse, children, and in some cases parents or siblings, depending on the family structure at the time of death. The exact list of eligible parties depends on the specific family circumstances and is worth reviewing with an attorney directly.
It depends on the available assets and coverage, including underinsured motorist coverage on the family’s own policy in vehicle-related deaths. This is one of the first things our firm checks, since it often changes the entire strategy of a case.
Not usually. Most wrongful death claims resolve through settlement negotiation, though our firm prepares every case as though trial is a real possibility, since insurers respond differently to a firm that is trial-ready.
As soon as the family feels able to, since evidence such as surveillance footage, vehicle data, and witness memory all degrade with time. There is no requirement to wait until after the funeral, and a free consultation places no obligation on the family.
Get Clarity on Your Case By Calling a Wrongful Death Lawyer
Nothing restores what a family lost, and no amount of money changes that. What a wrongful death claim does is put financial accountability where it belongs and give a family room to grieve without also managing an insurance company.
Call Hipskind & McAninch at 618-641-9189, available 24/7, for a free and confidential conversation about what happened. Big firm result, small firm care. Every case, every time.