Wrongful Death Claims in Fatal Boating Accidents
Maritime law is a specialty. It is different from regular personal injury state law. Call only a maritime specialist for a boat accident or boat crash. How do you know if the attorney is a specialist? Look for attorneys who are Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Admiralty & Maritime Law, who are Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Civil Trial, and who are nationally certified by the National Board of Trial Advocates.
Hickey Law Firm specializes in Maritime law. And we specialize in catastrophic injuries and death cases. Death cases are different. They involve the losses of the living, not of the person who was physically injured.
Death cases can also be “survivor” cases. A “survivor” case is where the injured person is injured but dies from causes unrelated to the crash. So the claim or lawsuit for the pain and suffering is for someone who is no longer on earth, and certainly not in the Courtroom in front of the jury. The recovery is for the pain and suffering of the injured person from the date of the crash through the date of death.
Jack Hickey is the only attorney in the United States who has recovered in a jury verdict $1 Million per year for 4 ½ years for the pain and suffering of an 89 year old woman who was in a serious crash. She died 4 ½ years after the crash, at age 93, of multiple myeloma which was unrelated to the crash. The jury awarded $4.5 Million for the pain and suffering of that woman. That verdict was affirmed on appeal. The recovery with interest was almost $5 Million.
The state of Florida currently has roughly one million boats registered to residents – more than any other state in the nation. While Florida’s waterways are a major draw for millions of residents and tourists every year, the unfortunate reality is that with so many boats on the water, some catastrophic accidents are unavoidable.
When a boating accident turns fatal, families are often left managing their grief while reckoning with burdensome legal and financial challenges. Let’s discuss the role of a wrongful death lawyer in seeking accountability for families who suffered this incredible loss.
How often do boating accidents result in death?
It should come as no surprise that Florida has the highest number of boating accidents in the country, given the large number of boats registered in our state. In 2024, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported 685 boating accidents across the state – 81 of which tragically turned out to be fatal.
Data from the FWC reveals that the most common causes of boating accident fatalities include:
- Overboard falls/ejections
- Collisions between vessels
- Impacts with fixed objects
- Capsizes
- Swamping/flooding
- Fire
While some boat accidents are inevitable in crowded waterways, others happen due to the carelessness or recklessness of a specific party. In these situations, bereaved family members often find themselves struggling while facing an ever-growing financial burden. For this reason, many families choose to file wrongful death claims against the party they feel was responsible for the death of their loved one in order to recover compensation for their losses.
What is a wrongful death claim?
A wrongful death claim is a civil lawsuit filed by a personal representative of the estate, for the benefit of the survivors and the estate, against the negligent party who killed their loved one. These claims may be governed by Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, which gives surviving family members the option to file a lawsuit for loss-related compensatory damages. However, because many boating deaths occur on navigable waters, general maritime law can also apply. In territorial waters, Florida remedies often still apply for non-seafarers, but beyond three nautical miles, the federal Death on the High Seas Act generally governs and limits damages.
While many people think of wrongful death claims as purely financial in nature, many families actually choose to pursue wrongful death actions to hold responsible parties accountable for the harm they caused and ensure they will not engage in similar conduct moving forward.
What does negligence look like in fatal boating accidents?
To succeed in a wrongful death claim, surviving family members must be able to demonstrate that another party’s negligence directly caused the death of their loved one. In practice, this means building a case that shows how a boater, rental company, or other entity:
- Owed a legal duty of care to the deceased
- Violated that duty of care through their actions or inactions
- Directly caused the death of the victim through their breach of care
Negligence in fatal boating accidents may involve a boat rental company failing to provide passengers with functional life vests or other safety equipment. Or, an intoxicated boat operator may have collided with another vessel. A captain speeding through a no-wake zone without keeping a proper lookout could also cause these tragedies. Because boating accidents sometimes involve complex questions about liability, it’s important to consult with an experienced attorney. Your lawyer can help you identify all potentially responsible parties in your case.
Under Florida’s modified comparative negligence system, even if a victim was partially responsible for their own accident, their family may still be within their rights to recover compensation. However, the court will reduce the compensation based on the victim’s percent of fault.
Who can file a wrongful death claim?
In Florida, only the personal representative of the deceased’s estate may file a wrongful death claim. Representatives can essentially file these claims on behalf of other surviving family members, including:
- A surviving spouse
- Children
- Living parents of the deceased
- Other relatives in specific and limited circumstances
Florida law allows qualifying family members to recover compensation to cover the loss of financial support the deceased individual would have otherwise provided them. This ensures that compensation reaches the family members who stand to be most directly impacted by the loss and helps to offset the often catastrophic financial fallout of a fatal accident.
What damages can loved ones recover?
Unexpected deaths can take a major toll on family members left behind after an accident. Between medical bills, funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and emotional distress, the overall cost of a fatal boating accident is often hard to quantify and harder still to cope with.
Some of the economic and non-economic damages available to survivors of fatal boating accidents might include:
- Medical expenses related to the accident
- Funeral and burial costs
- Loss of financial support and services, both immediately after an accident and in the future
- Loss of companionship and protection for a surviving spouse
- Emotional pain and suffering for surviving family members
- Lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance for minor children (or adult children if there is no surviving spouse)
- Loss of earnings (recovered for the estate by the executor)
Additionally, in some limited cases, the court may also assign punitive damages to the at-fault party to further hold them accountable for their actions.
It’s important to consult with an experienced wrongful death attorney in order to determine which, if any, of the damages listed above might be available in your case. Wrongful death claims can be complex, as eligibility for compensation can differ from family member to family member. A knowledgeable boating accident attorney can help clarify your legal standing.
What can the estate or personal representative recover in a death case under maritime law?
Recovery in death cases from boat crashes where maritime law applies is governed by the maritime law. If the negligence or the death occurred beyond the territorial waters of Florida, the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) can limit recovery to only economic damages. Therefore, if DOHSA applies, there is no recovery for any pain and suffering or for the loss of companionship. But if DOHSA does not apply, the Florida Wrongful Death Act and all of the recoveries under that can apply.
The state of Florida generally does not place caps on economic and non-economic damages in wrongful death cases brought against private entities. There are caps on damages against any state government entity.
That’s yet another reason why it is so important to partner with an experienced wrongful death attorney while determining the best course of action in your case. In addition to investigating your loved one’s accident and gathering the evidence needed to build a claim, wrongful death lawyers can work with their clients to calculate the value of their losses and cultivate a more compelling case for compensation.
Final thoughts
While nothing can undo the loss of a loved one, a wrongful death claim can provide financial stability and a measure of justice during an impossibly difficult time. Even if it feels impossible to think about in the midst of your pain, it’s important that you move as quickly as possible to begin the process of filing a claim in light of Florida’s two-year statute of limitations. Acting quickly can give you and your attorney the time you need to preserve evidence, interview witnesses, and build a strong case while giving you the space you need to process your loss.
If you’ve recently lost a loved one in a catastrophic boating accident, don’t let another moment pass in the absence of justice. The team at Hickey Law Firm, P.A. will fight harder and smarter to build a strong case for compensation and provide you with the resources you need to pursue accountability for their death. Give us a call today or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team, and let’s work together to honor your loss and provide your family with the resources and support you need to move forward in your grieving process.
Attorney John H. (Jack) Hickey and his team handle a wide range of cases, including but not limited to cruise ship accidents, admiralty and maritime accident cases, medical malpractice, wrongful death, premises liability, railroad accidents and car accidents. We represent victims from all over the nation, the world and the state of Florida.
Read more about how Jack Hickey can help you.