My brother was declared by the doctor with terminal illness and put in hospice care. He only had a couple of weeks to live. My mother asked him to stay with us for a few days and he agreed. We brought him home after being cleared by the hospice nurse for the 2.5 hour trip. He stayed a few days then he past away in my house before he can return home. Now his wife is suing me for wrongful death. Can I be sued?
Suing is one thing, prevailing is quite another. You need to immediately speak with qualified CA counsel, stop posting about this, and then contact your homeowners (as you may have coverage). Your sister in law prevailing on this limited facts; don't see it. Sorry for your loss.
David Wendell SealReal Estate AttorneyIrvine, CA ·
Well, to be literal about things, you answered your own question. Can you be sued? Yes, since you stated you have been sued, clearly it is possible to be sued.
As far as whether you can be held liable or not, that would require knowledge of the factual basis of what happened. Why does she think you were negligent or contributed to the death of your brother? Is her allegation accurate in that regard? Those and other questions would need to be answered first.
I suppose you can be sued for wrongful death, as anybody can sue for anything...; but the case certainly depends on the circumstances and how things played out. It sounds like it would be a tough case to bring (without further detail), and they would still have to prosecute and prove the case. Do you have homeowner's insurance or some other type of insurance that may step up and assume your defense? Submit the claim to them. If you don't have any type of insurance to take over, seek the services of lawyers that deal in the defense of wrongful death cases all the time (a good selection would be among insurance defense lawyers or medical malpractice defense lawyers or nursing home claims defense lawyers). Sorry about your brother, and that you are now the defendant in this claim. Good luck.
In addition to what the others have said, I think a good lawyer will help you to prevail. In my experience, once someone enters hospice, he usually doesn't have much time left. Don't know what his wife claims you did or didn't do that was negligent. Hopefully your homeowners or renters ins will furnish a lawyer.
