In most jurisdictions throughout the world, when a person is killed in an accident due to the fault of another person, the surviving family members have a right to file fatal accident claims. The steps required to file fatal accident claims may vary by jurisdiction, as well as by the circumstances of the accident. In the United States, for example, if the accident was a work-related accident, then the claim is often filed under the applicable state workers' compensation laws. If, however, the accident was not work-related, then fatal accident claims are usually filed as wrongful death claims in the appropriate court.
Although work-related fatal accident claims may be filed as a wrongful death lawsuit in some states, in most cases, the appropriate legal course of action is to use the workers' compensation system. Each state administers its own workers' compensation system; however, the steps for filing a claim are similar among the states. In most cases, only a spouse or dependent is entitled to compensation in a workers' compensation fatal accident claim.
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