When a breadwinner is injured to the extent that he or she is no longer able to provide financial support for the spouse or children or any other dependants who can lawfully claim a duty of support; or alternatively when the breadwinner is killed at the hands of the negligent wrongdoer the surviving spouse or dependents would have a claim against this wrongdoer.
For a loss of support claim to be successful the surviving spouse and dependents must be able to establish that there was a duty of support between the breadwinner and themselves and that the injury or harm was caused as a result of negligence at the hands of a third party.
The harm occurred must be foreseeable. At Malcolm Lyons & Brivik Attorneys Inc.
we investigate the loss of support claims thoroughly assessing the deceased or injured breadwinners’ likely earnings potential as well as that of a surviving spouse in maximizing the claim.
The funeral expenses of the deceased are also claimable either by the spouse or the estate depending on the facts of each loss of support case.