When someone close to you loses their life because of someone else’s negligent behaviour, the grief is impossible to put into words. But what follows, including bills, loss of income, funeral expenses, and the sudden loss of the support they provided, can place an enormous burden on the family.
However, if negligence is behind a death like this, Ontario law gives your family the right to hold the responsible party accountable and recover compensation for what you’ve lost.
As a Aurora wrongful death lawyer, Reyes Tam Law helps families understand exactly where they stand, what they’re entitled to, and how to move forward without being taken advantage of by insurance adjusters. Take advantage of a free consultation and talk to our wrongful death lawyer in Aurora.
What Qualifies as a Wrongful Death Claim in Aurora?
A wrongful death claim can only be applied for when an individual dies due to another person’s carelessness, recklessness, or failure to act reasonably. In legal terms, this means the death resulted from negligence, a breach of duty, or an unlawful act, rather than natural causes.
What Situations Count as Wrongful Death?
A wrongful death covers a wide range of situations that most of the families are not even aware of:
- A driver who runs a red light or causes a serious crash on Yonge Street
- A nursing home or long-term care facility that fails to properly monitor or care for a resident
- A doctor or healthcare provider who misses a serious condition or delays necessary treatment
- An employer who ignores known safety hazards at a construction site or workplace
When a reasonable person or business could have prevented the death but didn’t, that failure can form the basis of a claim.
Do You Need Criminal Charges to File a Claim?
No, a criminal charge is not necessary to file a wrongful death claim. Most families don’t know this, but both civil and criminal cases run on separate tracks, with separate standards of proof.
In a civil claim, you generally need to show that it was more likely than not that negligence caused the death. This is a lower standard than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal cases. So, even if no criminal charges are laid, or there is no conviction, you may still have a valid wrongful death claim.
Time matters here, too. Ontario generally requires wrongful death claims to be filed within two years of the date of death, under the Limitations Act. Missing that window can mean losing your right to compensation entirely, which is why speaking with a wrongful death lawyer early, even before you’ve decided to pursue a claim, protects your options.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Ontario?
In Ontario, the Family Law Act outlines who has the legal right to bring a claim for the losses they suffer after the wrongful death of a family member. Eligible claimants include:
- Spouses, including common-law partners who meet the legal definition of a conjugal relationship
- Children of the deceased, including adult children and those who were dependents
- Parents and grandparents of the deceased
- Siblings and grandchildren, in certain circumstances
These claims, often called FLA claims, compensate family members for their own losses, the loss of guidance, care, and companionship they would have continued to receive from their loved one.
What Is an Estate Claim Under the Trustee Act?
There’s a second, separate claim most families never hear about until it’s explained to them. The deceased’s estate, represented by an executor or estate trustee, can bring a claim under the Trustee Act. This claim covers different losses entirely: the pain and suffering the deceased experienced before death, medical expenses incurred, and any income the person would have earned had they survived.
These two claims aren’t interchangeable, and in many cases, both can and should be pursued at the same time. A Aurora wrongful death lawyer who understands how these claims interact can make sure your family isn’t leaving compensation unclaimed simply because no one told you it existed.
How Much Compensation Can an Aurora Family Recover?
For many Aurora households, a wrongful death doesn’t just mean losing a person; it means losing the second income, the retirement plan, or the career-in-progress that the family had built their future around. Aurora is home to a lot of dual-income, commuter households, and when one partner is gone, that gap shows up fast, in the mortgage, the kids’ schooling, and the plans that were already in motion. Compensation is meant to address both the emotional and financial reality of that loss, and it typically falls into these categories:
Loss of guidance, care, and companionship. This compensates surviving family members for the relationship, support, and presence they’ve lost, calculated based on the closeness of the relationship and the role the deceased played in the family.
Loss of financial dependency. If the deceased contributed income, benefits, or financial support to the household, the family can recover compensation for what that support would have amounted to over time, including future lost earnings.
Funeral and burial expenses. Reasonable costs associated with the funeral, burial, or cremation are recoverable, along with related expenses the family had to cover.
Grief counselling and therapy costs. Support for the mental health impact of the loss on surviving spouses, children, and other close family members.
Estate damages. Through the separate Trustee Act claim, the estate can recover for the deceased’s pain and suffering before death, medical treatment costs, and lost income up to the date of death.
Every case is different, and the value of a claim depends on factors like the age and earning capacity of the deceased, the number and ages of dependents, and the strength of the evidence showing negligence. A thorough claim accounts for both the immediate costs your family is facing now and the long-term financial gap this loss has created.
Why Reyes Tam Law for Aurora Families
Grief doesn’t leave much room for navigating a legal process, and it shouldn’t have to. At Reyes Tam Law, we handle the legal work so your family can focus on each other.
We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning your family pays nothing upfront and nothing at all unless we recover compensation on your behalf. You’ll work directly with your lawyer throughout the case, not a rotating cast of case managers who don’t know your story. Our wrongful death lawyer in Aurora takes the time to understand what your family has lost, build a claim that reflects it accurately, and pursue the insurance company or responsible party until your family gets what you’re owed.
If you’ve lost someone in Aurora because of another person’s negligence, you don’t have to figure out what comes next on your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured?
Your family may still have options. Ontario auto policies typically include uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and in some cases, a claim can be made against your own insurer to recover compensation the at-fault driver can’t pay. This is a detail many families miss without legal guidance.
Can I still file a wrongful death claim if my loved one was partly responsible for the accident?
Yes, Ontario follows a contributory negligence system, meaning compensation is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the deceased rather than eliminated entirely. Even if your loved one bore some responsibility, your family may still recover a proportionate share of damages. A lawyer can assess how fault is likely to be divided.
Does it matter if the wrongful death happened at work?
It can. Workplace deaths often involve a combination of WSIB benefits and, in some cases, a separate civil claim against a third party who wasn’t the employer, such as a contractor or equipment manufacturer. These situations require careful review to determine what your family is entitled to beyond standard workplace benefits.