Your spouse was heading home from work when they were struck by an errant driver. They were declared deceased at the scene of the collision.
In that moment, your entire life was changed. Your family lost the breadwinner, and you lost your spouse. You never expected that a fatal crash would be the reason that you’d lose them, so you’ve struggled.
At the same time, you’ve been handling funeral arrangements and trying to work through your spouse’s will and estate plan, too. It’s a highly stressful situation. One of the major stresses is how you’re going to handle everything financially, since you have been left without that second income.
Who is going to pay for the funeral?
When you lose someone in a collision, the funeral may be covered by their car insurance or the other party’s insurance, depending on the coverage that is available.
Check your spouse’s insurance coverage to see if death benefits were included. If so, then those should cover the cost of a funeral as well as other related expenses. The insurance company may ask for an autopsy prior to paying out the death benefits it provides to confirm that the death was caused by the crash.
North Carolina doesn’t require personal injury protection (PIP) insurance, which means that death benefits aren’t automatically provided by insurance carriers. Your spouse may have opted in, however.
If the other driver is at fault, then you may be able to seek death benefits from the other insurance carrier or make a claim through uninsured or underinsured insurance coverage that you had through your spouse’s carrier. An attorney can help you determine what options you have for seeking the compensation you need and deserve.
