Wrongful death statute of limitations in New York

Family members can file for a wrongful death action lawsuit if they believe that the death of an immediate surviving family member was caused either intentionally or negligently. The lawsuit is filed within a specific period of time by the family members and this lawsuit is termed as wrongful death statute of limitations.

Period of time

The law specifies that the wrongful death action lawsuit must be filed no later than two years from the date of the decedent’s death, which means that the statute of limitation for a wrongful death claim is two years, in the State of New York.

Wrongful death statute of limitations

It must be noted that the statute of limitation is an affirmative defense, which means that the defendant must be able to assert the defense in his or her answer to the complaint of the plaintiff. In the first responsive pleading of the defendant, if the statute of limitation defense is not waived, then it will be deemed as waived by the court and the defendant will not be allowed to assert the defense after that.

Dismissing the case

New York wrongful death statute of limitations

A judge has the authority to dismiss the case filed by the plaintiff if the defendant can back up his claim that the plaintiff did not file a wrongful death action within the two-year statute of limitation. The two year limit thus can play a crucial role in many of the cases as, if the defendant is able to prove that the action for wrongful death filed by the plaintiff was not inside the two year time period after the death of the decedent. Then the case will hold no weight in the court and has every chance to be duly dismissed.

Certain exceptions

There are certain exceptions to the rules of the wrongful death action too, as there are in the case of most of the other legal rules. In the case of wrongful death action, the statute of limitation does not begin to accrue until a later date in the certain scenarios. An example for such an exception can occur in cases where the death-producing agent is not immediately discoverable, such as poisoned drugs administered to the patient in which it is likely that the plaintiff will become aware of the use of contaminated pharmaceuticals during the course of the treatment of the decedent.

These are some information regarding the wrongful death actions filed in the state of New York.