Stuart Wrongful Death Lawyer
When negligence takes a life in Stuart, a family is left holding two burdens at once: a grief that has no timetable, and a set of legal and financial questions that will not wait. At Sholtes Law, PLLC, a Stuart wrongful death lawyer carries the second burden so your family can tend to the first. We investigate the death, identify every responsible party and insurance policy, and pursue the full measure of compensation the Florida Wrongful Death Act allows — on a contingency fee, with no cost to your family unless we recover. Call 855-534-2509 for a free, confidential consultation.
This is our home. Attorney Andrew Sholtes is a Stuart native, and our office at 41 SW Seminole St sits two blocks from the Martin County Courthouse, where every wrongful death lawsuit arising in Stuart is filed. When your family’s case is handled by a local firm that tries cases in that courthouse — rather than a distant operation with Stuart on a service-area list — the insurance company’s calculation changes from the first letter.
What Is Considered a Wrongful Death in Stuart, FL?
Florida’s Wrongful Death Act (Fla. Stat. §§ 768.16–768.26) creates a claim whenever a death results from another party’s negligence, wrongful act, or breach of contract or warranty — in short, whenever the person who died would have had an injury claim had they lived. In Stuart and greater Martin County, the fatal accidents we see most often include:
- Traffic deaths on US-1, the Roosevelt Bridge, Kanner Highway (SR-76), Monterey Road, and Ocean Boulevard — including crashes caused by drunk, distracted, and aggressive drivers, and collisions involving commercial trucks moving freight through the corridor;
- Motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian fatalities, where Stuart’s mix of retirees, cyclists, and tourist traffic proves deadly for the unprotected;
- Boating and waterway deaths — in the Sailfish Capital of the World, fatal accidents on the St. Lucie River, the Indian River Lagoon, and the Okeechobee Waterway raise their own liability questions involving operators, charter companies, and rental businesses;
- Workplace and construction fatalities, where a third-party claim can recover what workers’ compensation death benefits never will;
- Deaths from dangerous property conditions or inadequate security; and
- Fatal medical errors, which follow their own pre-suit rules and shortened practical timelines.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Florida?
Not the family directly — and this is the procedural detail that trips up more families than any other. Florida requires the claim to be filed by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate, who brings one lawsuit on behalf of all eligible survivors. Under Fla. Stat. § 768.21, those survivors can include the surviving spouse, minor children (and in some cases adult children), parents, and other relatives who depended on the deceased for support or services — each with their own categories of recoverable damages. If no personal representative has been appointed yet, we handle that step: coordinating the probate appointment and the injury claim together, so deadlines are met and no eligible survivor is left out of the recovery.
How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Florida?
Generally two years from the date of death — one of the shortest wrongful death deadlines in the country, and shorter in practice than on paper. Skid marks fade, surveillance footage is overwritten, vessels are repaired, and corporate defendants begin building their defense within hours of a fatal accident. If a government entity is involved — a public vehicle, a dangerous roadway condition — Fla. Stat. § 768.28 adds pre-suit notice requirements that come even sooner. The earlier a Stuart wrongful death attorney begins preserving evidence, the stronger your family’s position at every stage that follows.
What Compensation Can Surviving Family Members Recover?
The Wrongful Death Act sorts damages by survivor and by the estate:
- Lost support and services — the income, benefits, and household contributions the deceased provided, projected over the years they should have had. We work with economists to value a career, a pension, and the unpaid work of a parent properly.
- Loss of companionship, guidance, and protection — for a spouse, the loss of a partner; for children, the loss of a parent’s instruction and care. Florida law treats these as real, compensable losses, and presenting them well is as much about storytelling grounded in evidence as it is about numbers.
- Mental pain and suffering for the survivors the statute designates.
- Medical and funeral expenses arising from the final injury.
- The estate’s own losses — earnings between injury and death and the net accumulations the estate would have gathered.
- Punitive damages in cases of gross misconduct — a drunk driver, a company that knowingly ran an unsafe operation — subject to Florida’s clear-and-convincing standard.
Insurers resolve wrongful death claims cheaply when families are unrepresented or represented by firms that never try cases. The remedy is preparation: a fully documented claim, expert support, and a firm the defense knows will take the case to a Martin County jury.
How Does a Stuart Wrongful Death Case Actually Proceed?
First, a free and confidential consultation — we listen, explain your options honestly, and if we take the case, we advance every cost. Then investigation: crash or incident reports, scene and vehicle evidence, witness interviews, medical records, and experts where the case demands them. Then the probate coordination described above. Once the survivors’ losses are fully documented, we present a demand built like a trial exhibit. Many cases settle at fair value at this stage; when they do not, we file in the Martin County Circuit Court — part of Florida’s 19th Judicial Circuit — and prepare for trial. Attorney Sholtes trained under one of the nation’s premier trial lawyers at the Willie Gary Law Group, and that preparation standard is applied to every wrongful death case the firm accepts, settled or tried.
Why Families in Stuart Choose Sholtes Law, PLLC
Because we are from here, we are reachable, and we try cases. You will work directly with your attorney — not a case manager — from the first meeting, which can happen at our downtown Stuart office, in the evening, or wherever your circumstances require. Your family pays nothing out of pocket: no fee and no costs unless we recover. And because wrongful death cases often begin as our other cases do — a fatal crash, a workplace accident, a fall — our full Stuart personal injury practice stands behind every claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Stuart wrongful death lawyer cost?
Nothing unless we win. We handle these cases on a contingency fee and advance all case costs; our fee and costs come out of the recovery, and if there is no recovery, your family owes nothing.
Is a wrongful death settlement taxable?
Compensatory wrongful death damages are generally not taxable income under federal law, though portions like punitive damages can be treated differently. We coordinate with tax and probate professionals so your family understands the net recovery before approving any settlement.
The death is being investigated criminally. Should we wait?
No — the civil claim runs on its own track and its own deadline. A criminal case can supply powerful evidence, and we obtain it, but waiting for a prosecution to finish can cost your family the evidence and the time the civil claim needs.
What if my loved one was partly at fault?
Expect the insurer to argue exactly that — the person blamed can no longer answer. Under Florida’s comparative negligence rules, recovery is reduced by the deceased’s share of fault and barred only above 50%. We contest inflated fault arguments with reconstruction, physical evidence, and witnesses.
Can more than one family member hire their own lawyer?
Florida’s structure — one claim, brought by the personal representative for all survivors — exists to prevent competing lawsuits. Disagreements among survivors do happen, and handling them early, inside the probate process, protects both the family and the recovery.
Talk to a Stuart Wrongful Death Attorney Today
If your family has lost someone to negligence in Stuart or anywhere in Martin County, let us shoulder the legal weight while you take care of each other. Call Sholtes Law, PLLC at 855-534-2509 or complete the form on this page for a free, confidential consultation with an experienced Stuart wrongful death lawyer. Our office is at 41 SW Seminole St, Stuart, FL 34994 — and your family pays nothing unless we recover.
