When a loved one dies because of someone else's careless or wrongful conduct, Missouri law gives surviving family members the right to pursue a wrongful death claim under §537.080 RSMo. Proving negligence — that another party owed a duty of care, breached it, and caused the death — is the foundation of every case.
At Bur Oak Injury Law, attorney Chris Miller investigates what happened, builds the evidence record, and fights for the compensation your family deserves. Call for a free consultation.
(573) 499-0200Missouri wrongful death law under §537.080 RSMo allows surviving family members to recover compensation when a death was caused by another party's negligent, reckless, or wrongful act. Negligence has four elements — and your family must prove each one to recover damages.
Without a lawyer who understands how to investigate, preserve evidence, and present a negligence claim, families risk losing time-sensitive evidence or missing the three-year filing deadline. At Bur Oak Injury Law, Chris Miller handles every stage of building the negligence case for your family.
The defendant must have owed the deceased a legal duty — for example, a driver's duty to obey traffic laws, a doctor's duty to follow the standard of care, or a property owner's duty to maintain safe premises.
The defendant must have violated that duty through a careless, reckless, or wrongful act — such as running a red light, committing a surgical error, or ignoring known safety hazards on their property.
The breach must have directly and foreseeably caused the death. Causation is often the most contested element and may require expert testimony, accident reconstruction, or medical opinions.
The family must demonstrate actual losses — funeral expenses, medical costs before death, lost wages, loss of companionship, and pain and suffering experienced by the deceased before death.
Physical evidence, surveillance footage, medical records, and witness accounts can disappear quickly. Acting promptly protects the evidentiary foundation of your family's claim.
Missouri law allows only one wrongful death lawsuit per victim. All eligible family members under §537.080 must coordinate their claims to avoid losing the right to participate in recovery.
Before representing injured Missourians and grieving families in court, Chris Miller served as a government attorney in the Missouri Department of Labor and administered the Division of Workers' Compensation — the state body where disputed claims are heard and decided. He understands how insurance companies and defense attorneys evaluate negligence claims, what evidence is required to win, and how to present a case persuasively. When your family hires Bur Oak Injury Law, Chris personally handles your case from the first call to the final outcome — no handoffs to associates or paralegals.
Negligence takes many forms. Bur Oak Injury Law represents families across central Missouri in wrongful death claims arising from a wide range of negligent conduct.
Fatal car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle crashes on Columbia roads, I-70, Highway 63, and surrounding Missouri highways — often caused by distracted, impaired, or reckless drivers.
Hospital, physician, surgical, and medication negligence — including misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, anesthesia errors, and failure to order appropriate tests or treatment.
Construction, industrial, agricultural, and job-site fatalities in Columbia's growing business and development areas, including third-party negligence claims where workers' compensation does not fully apply.
Dangerous consumer goods, unsafe machinery, defective vehicle parts, or failed safety equipment that causes fatal injuries despite being used as intended.
Dangerous property conditions at businesses, apartments, student housing, private residences, or public spaces — including falls, structural failures, and inadequate security.
Fatal neglect, abuse, falls, medication errors, dehydration, or unsafe care at Central Missouri long-term care and assisted living facilities.
Fatal collisions in downtown Columbia, near the MU campus, crosswalks, bike lanes, and high-traffic intersections where drivers failed to yield.
Wrongful death resulting from inadequate security, negligent supervision, or a property owner's failure to protect guests from foreseeable criminal harm.
Drowning deaths caused by inadequate fencing, lack of supervision, unsafe pool maintenance, or failure to follow required safety standards.
Fatal pharmacy, dosage, labeling, or medication administration mistakes by healthcare providers, hospitals, or pharmacies that caused or contributed to a patient's death.
Building a successful wrongful death negligence case requires systematic investigation, expert resources, and a lawyer who knows how to present evidence effectively. Here is how the process works.
We begin with a free, confidential consultation to review the circumstances of your loved one's death. We discuss how the death occurred, which parties may be responsible, what evidence may exist, and whether Missouri wrongful death law applies to your family's situation. We also identify which family members are eligible to bring a claim under §537.080 RSMo.
We gather the evidence required to prove each element of negligence: medical records, police reports, workplace documents, photographs, surveillance footage, witness statements, expert opinions, and accident reconstruction materials. Acting quickly preserves evidence before it is lost, destroyed, or becomes unavailable.
We prepare and file the wrongful death lawsuit within the three-year deadline required by §537.100 RSMo. We handle court filings, insurance negotiations, discovery, and depositions. Many wrongful death negligence cases resolve through settlement — but we prepare every case as if it will go to trial so insurance companies know we are serious.
We pursue the result that best protects your family — whether through a negotiated settlement or a trial verdict. We seek full compensation for funeral costs, medical expenses before death, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and the daily care and support your loved one provided. Missouri law also recognizes a presumption that the value of care provided by a non-employed deceased person equals 110 percent of the state average weekly wage.
Under §537.080 RSMo, a wrongful death claim may be filed when a death results from an act, conduct, occurrence, transaction, or circumstance that would have entitled the victim to recover damages had they survived. The statute creates a structured hierarchy of eligible plaintiffs — spouses, children, and grandchildren file first; parents file if none of the preceding class exists; siblings or their descendants may file if no closer relatives survive. Because only one lawsuit is permitted per victim, all eligible family members must coordinate their claims in a single proceeding.
Missouri's wrongful death statute of limitations under §537.100 RSMo gives most families three years from the date of the victim's death to file suit. Medical malpractice wrongful death claims carry a shorter two-year deadline. Missing the deadline almost always results in a complete bar to recovery, regardless of how strong the negligence evidence is. Physical evidence degrades, witnesses' memories fade, surveillance footage is overwritten, and electronic records are deleted on routine schedules. Families who contact Bur Oak Injury Law promptly give their cases the strongest possible foundation.
No fee unless we win. Call (573) 499-0200 or submit the form to speak with Chris Miller about your wrongful death negligence case.
Call (573) 499-0200