Surviving wrongful death Part I
|
|
As statutes go, North Carolina’s wrongful death statute is a seemingly benign piece of legislation. Under common law, all tort claims were extinguished or “abated” by the death of their holder, regardless of the degree of pain, suffering or general misery endured by the deceased prior to his demise. Our General Assembly saw fit to rectify that inequity by enacting the North Carolina wrongful death statute, presently codified at G.S. Sect. 28A-18-2. In essence, the statute provides that the legal representative of a decedent’s estate may bring… |