What is a New York wrongful death claim?

A wrongful death claim in New York arises from a special statute that was passed in New York in the 19th century, because at common law, general law, there was no recovery for a wrongful death on the idea that every life is priceless. Therefore, there’s no amount of money that can compensate for that. However, New York does allow for the dependents of a decedent to recover their financial losses by loss of income, if the decedent was working and contributing and supporting dependent children, spouse. They can recover for that financial loss, and that’s called a wrongful death lawsuit. And it’s governed by a special statute with a different statute of limitations, a two year statute of limitations instead of the regular three year for an injury.

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