Nursing Home Wrongful Death

Can You Sue a Nursing Home for Wrongful Death?

Yes, you may be able to sue a nursing home for wrongful death if a loved one passed away due to negligence by the facility’s staff members or health care providers.

Nursing home wrongful death lawsuits aim to hold negligent long-term care facilities accountable and seek compensation for a family’s loss.

Compensation from a wrongful death lawsuit can cover:

• Funeral costs
• Hospital bills
• Loss of companionship
• Medical expenses
• Pain and suffering
• Other damages

While no amount of money can ever erase the pain related to losing a loved one, it can help ease a family’s financial burdens and allow them to move toward healing.

LawFirm.com works with nursing home abuse attorneys who have secured over $304 million for families nationwide.

Get a free case review now to see if one of our trusted legal partners may be able to help your family, too.

See If We Can Help You Get Compensation

$400+ thousandaverage nursing home abuse settlement

$304 millionsecured for victims of abuse and neglect

$0upfront or hourly fees

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Wrongful Death Nursing Home Settlements

Compensation in a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit is awarded through settlements and verdicts. The most common result is an out-of-court settlement, providing families with faster access to money with less stress.

On average, nursing home wrongful death settlements are often worth over $1 million due to the severe nature of these cases and their long-term impact on families.

Nursing home wrongful death payouts secured by our legal partners include:

• $2 million to a California man whose wife with dementia passed away after being denied care
• $1.75 million for a mother whose daughter died due to an Ohio facility’s negligence
• $1 million to the family of a California woman who passed away
• $1.75 million for an elderly man in Massachusetts who died in a fire caused by neglect
• $2 million to a Massachusetts woman who passed away due to an infected catheter

While case values may vary based on individual facts, nursing home attorneys will fight to secure as much compensation as quickly as possible.

Eligibility for a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Anyone who suffered damages due to a resident’s passing may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit against a nursing home or assisted living facility.

Parties who may qualify to file a nursing home death lawsuit include:

• Surviving family members, like parents, spouses, children, or siblings
• Financial dependents who were affected financially
• The representative of the decedent’s estate

When a resident dies due to nursing home negligence or abuse, a wrongful death lawsuit allows survivors to fight back and seek accountability. Taking legal action is also a powerful way to honor your loved one’s memory.

How to Sue a Nursing Home for Wrongful Death

Nursing home wrongful death lawyers understand the emotional toll of losing a loved one, especially when their death was caused by a facility that was trusted to keep them safe.

With a nursing home lawyer handling the entire legal process, you can focus on spending time with family and healing during this difficult time.

Learn more about the steps involved in suing a nursing home for wrongful death.

1. Get a Free Case Review

LawFirm.com provides free case reviews, allowing you to find out if you qualify to take legal action without any financial risk.

During this process, a case manager will ask questions about what happened and connect you with an experienced nursing home lawyer if you qualify.

2. Collect Evidence of Nursing Home Wrongful Death

Your legal team will gather evidence to prove that your loved one’s death was avoidable and that the long-term care facility is to blame.

Evidence showing wrongful death in a nursing home may include:

• An autopsy report
• Death certificate
• Medical records
• Nursing home incident reports
• Witness statements

Medical experts may be asked to provide testimony explaining how your loved one’s death could have been prevented with proper care.

3. File Your Wrongful Death Nursing Home Lawsuit

Your lawyer will file your wrongful death nursing home lawsuit in the proper court before any legal deadlines. They will ensure your rights are protected and keep you updated on your case every step of the way.

You don’t have to file yourself, saving you extra stress while mourning your loved one.

4. Negotiate Nursing Home Wrongful Death Settlements

Through negotiations with the facility and any other at-fault parties, your attorney will work to secure wrongful death nursing home settlements on your behalf.

However, if a nursing home lawsuit is unable to be settled, your attorney will demand a payout from a wrongful death trial verdict.

Nursing Home Wrongful Death Statutes of Limitations

The amount of time you have to file a lawsuit for nursing home wrongful death depends on the statute of limitations in your state.

Once this time limit has expired, you won’t be able to take legal action and seek justice for the loss of your loved one again.

For that reason, it’s important to contact a nursing home abuse lawyer as soon as possible. They can explain the deadline that applies in your case and act quickly to ensure your wrongful death lawsuit is filed in time.

Don’t delay: See if we may be able to connect you with a top lawyer while there’s still time.

See If We Can Help You Get Compensation

$400+ thousandaverage nursing home abuse settlement

$304 millionsecured for victims of abuse and neglect

$0upfront or hourly fees

Get a Free Case Review

Factors That Affect Nursing Home Wrongful Death Settlements

Nursing home wrongful death home settlement amounts vary, depending on factors specific to the resident and the abuse they suffered before their death.

These factors may include:

• Age of the victim
• Health status when they died
• Medical expenses related to injuries from nursing home abuse or neglect
• Number of dependents the resident has and their ages
• Severity of elder abuse or neglect
• State laws

Your attorney will consider these and other factors when determining how much nursing home wrongful death compensation you may be entitled to. They will fight to secure as much money as quickly as possible.

Causes of Wrongful Death in a Nursing Home

In long-term care facilities, the main causes of wrongful death often stem from abuse or neglect. Sadly, wrongful death from elder abuse is all too common in facilities across the country.

Examples of abuse and neglect that can lead to nursing home wrongful death include:

• Depriving a resident of adequate food and water, leading to dehydration or malnutrition
• Engaging in medical malpractice by providing poor medical care or making medication errors
• Failing to treat pressure ulcers, causing stage 3 and stage 4 bedsores and infections like sepsis (blood infection)
• Not cleaning up cluttered areas, causing preventable nursing home falls
• Staffing shortages that result in nursing home patients not getting the attention they need
• Not supervising staff, resulting in physical abuse and fatal nursing home injuries

Many other instances of nursing home neglect can lead to wrongful death, especially if a resident is already frail or in poor health.

Caregivers who suspect a loved one’s passing may have been caused by nursing home negligence should consider contacting an attorney. A lawyer can investigate to get to the bottom of what happened.

Wrongful Death Lawsuits & Nursing Homes: 2025 Update

In the past year, nursing home wrongful death stories have made headlines, shining a spotlight on unsafe conditions in facilities across the country.

Recent nursing home wrongful death lawsuit developments include:

• Care Initiatives in Iowa has been named in at least 10 wrongful death lawsuits claiming that negligence and substandard care led to patients’ deaths. Whistleblowers have also sued, saying they were fired when they spoke up about safety concerns.
• One lawsuit alleges that Care Initiatives and one of the homes it operates, Centerville Specialty Care, provided inadequate care to a 64-year-old patient who died from complications related to a 4-inch bedsore.
• The daughter of an 88-year-old nursing home resident who died from malnutrition has sued the nursing home in Waco, Texas, where she lived for about 7 years.
• Family members of an elderly resident at Hebrew Home of Greater Washington in Rockland, Maryland, filed a nursing home wrongful death lawsuit after their loved one died from complications of a stage 4 pressure sore.

LawFirm.com has a national network of skilled personal injury lawyers with experience handling nursing home cases.

Our trusted legal partners will thoroughly investigate your nursing home wrongful death claim and fight for the justice you deserve.

Get Help From Nursing Home Wrongful Death Attorneys

Nursing home wrongful death is a preventable tragedy that robs families of precious time they could have spent together.

While a lawsuit can’t bring back a loved one, it can provide families with a sense of closure and allow them to move forward with their lives.

Our legal partners:

• Can help families in all 50 states
• Have decades of experience fighting back against nursing home neglect
• Never charge any upfront costs or hourly fees

Call (888) 726-9160 right now or get a free case review to see if a top nursing home wrongful death attorney may be able to fight hard for you.