Don’t Let The Statute Of Limitations Stop Your Claim

It can be difficult to want to discuss a person’s death, and when that death is the result of someone else’s negligence, it can make facing that fact even harder. The truth is that while everyone deserves time to heal, wrongful death cases are limited by the statute of limitations. That means that if you don’t step forward and make a claim in good time, you could lose the opportunity to do so forever.

The type of claim you want to file does affect how long you have to do so. Sometimes, you can file the lawsuit within a length of time after the discovery of harm. What that means is that if the injury actually took place in 2000 when the surgeon left a bandage inside a patient during surgery, that won’t necessarily mean the statute of limitations has run out a few years following that mistake. Instead, when the patient starts suffering pain and later passes away from the injury, the time limit begins. That’s because it’s the first time it would have been reasonable for the patient to believe anything was wrong.

In New Jersey, a wrongful death claim is limited with a 2-year statute of limitation law. After that time, it’s not likely you’ll be able to make a claim except for in exceptional circumstances.

While it’s important that you have time to mull over what happened, you also need to discuss your case as soon as possible to prevent yourself from being caught off guard by the time limit on the case. Our website has more information on this rule, so you can be sure your case can be filed on time.