Illinois wrongful death lawyers perspective: Sometimes it is better for the defendant if you die

We are injury attorneys that focuses on job accidents and make referrals to the top lawyers in Illinois for other areas of law.   A recent call brought to mind a sad reality about Illinois wrongful death laws.

The son of a worker that was crushed to death on the job called us looking for help.  Unfortunately the dad had no dependents and was divorced so under Illinois law the only thing that could be recovered from workers' compensation was payment of medical bills and the funeral bill.  Had he any dependents, the minimum payment would have been $500,000.  Had he survived, the accident likely would have cost the insurance company hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost time.

Because a co-worker was at fault for the death, there is no one we can sue for this tragic accident.  Even if there was someone to sue, the amount that could be recovered is way less when someone dies in almost every instance.  And although he had three loving children and four grandchildren, because none of them were financially dependent upon him, the insurance company will end up paying less than $10,000 as a result of a death on the job.

Sad but true.