Undoubtedly, you may be grateful that your partner survived their terrible personal injury accident. However, they may never be able to recover physically, mentally, or emotionally from it. With this, you may find that you are mourning the loss of the person you once knew and loved. Well, in the state of Florida, there is a specific type of civil action to recover from this loss, and it is known as a loss of consortium claim. Without further ado, please read on to discover whether you have valid grounds to file a loss of consortium claim and how one of the seasoned Panama City personal injury attorneys at Manuel & Thompson, PA, can help you execute this legal action.
Do I have grounds to file a loss of consortium claim?
First of all, for a loss of consortium claim, you typically must be the legal spouse of the person who suffered a personal injury accident. But unique to most other states, Florida may allow domestic partners to take legal action, as well. Also, a child of an injured parent may be able to come forward, so long as they are unmarried and still a financial dependent. Plus, if their parent incurred a permanent, total disability.
Now that you know you are an appropriate party, you must confirm you have valid reasons to initiate this claim. For example, as a spouse, the following are respectable grounds for a loss of consortium claim:
- You can no longer conceive a child with your spouse due to their physical injuries.
- You can no longer get your spouse’s help with household chores and childcare from their physical injuries.
- You can no longer receive financial support from your spouse due to their inability to maintain employment.
- You can no longer receive affection or comfort from your spouse due to their emotional suffering.
- You can no longer receive coherent communication from your spouse due to their mental incapacity.
What is the statute of limitations for a loss of consortium claim?
You generally should file your loss of consortium claim separately from your partner’s personal injury claim. With that being said, the statute of limitations for your claim is two years from the date of your partner’s accident, which is the same deadline as their potential personal injury claim. Under specific circumstances, though, you may file two years from the date you discovered the effects of your partner’s physical, mental, and emotional injuries, which may be more delayed.
This may be if it took longer for medical tests to land on your partner’s official diagnosis, and their treating medical professional warned them not to return to work later on. Or, if your partner’s attitude regressed or depression heightened over time as they realized they would never make a full recovery, and their lost affection, comfort, and emotional relationship ensued.
You must retain legal representation before you even get close to your scheduled claim proceedings. So please, contact one of the competent Panama City personal injury attorneys from Manuel & Thompson, PA today.
