Who can file a wrongful death claim in Pennsylvania?

Under Pennsylvania law, the decedent's personal representative (executor or administrator) brings the claim on behalf of the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. If the personal representative does not file within six months, any beneficiary may file.

How long do I have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Pennsylvania?

The statute of limitations is generally two years from the date of death. Some cases involving a delayed discovery of the cause of death may have a discovery rule that extends this deadline — call us so we can analyze your specific case.

Can we file both a wrongful death and a survival action?

Yes — they are separate claims with separate damages. Wrongful death compensates the family for their losses; the survival action compensates the estate for what the decedent suffered between the injury and death. Most Pennsylvania cases plead both.

Is a settlement taxable?

Generally, wrongful death and personal injury settlements are not subject to federal income tax. Punitive damages and interest may be taxable. We always recommend coordinating with a tax professional on the final allocation.

What does it cost to hire a wrongful death attorney?

Nothing up front. We handle Pennsylvania wrongful death cases on a contingency fee — our fee comes out of the recovery, and there is no fee if we do not recover for your family.

Where do fatal crashes most often happen in Bensalem?

In Bensalem, fatal collisions cluster on the busiest roads in and around Bensalem, at high-speed interchanges and merges, and at signalized intersections where a driver ran a red light or a commercial truck failed to yield. Legal representation extends across Cornwells Heights, Trevose, and Oakford, coordinating with Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas for local litigation.

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit after a Bensalem fatality?

Under Pennsylvania's Wrongful Death Act (42 Pa. C.S. § 8301), the personal representative of the deceased's estate files the action on behalf of the surviving spouse, children, and parents. If no personal representative is named within six months of death, an eligible beneficiary can bring the suit. We routinely help Bensalem families open the estate and get a representative appointed so the case can move forward.

What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival action in Pennsylvania?

A wrongful death claim (42 Pa. C.S. § 8301) compensates the surviving family for their losses — loss of financial support, loss of guidance and companionship, and funeral and burial expenses. A survival action (42 Pa. C.S. § 8302) is brought on behalf of the estate for what the decedent could have recovered had they lived — pre-death pain and suffering, lost future earnings, and medical expenses. Nearly every Bensalem wrongful death case we handle includes both.

How long do Bensalem families have to file a wrongful death case?

Pennsylvania's statute of limitations for wrongful death and survival actions is two years, generally measured from the date of death. If a public entity contributed — for example, a PennDOT roadway defect on a local highway or a Bucks County road — a six-month written notice requirement can apply. Do not wait: witness memories fade and physical evidence at the scene disappears quickly.

What damages can a Bensalem family recover in a wrongful death case?

Wrongful death damages include the value of financial support the decedent would have provided, the value of services (household work, childcare, guidance), loss of society and companionship for the spouse, children, and parents, and funeral and burial costs. The survival action adds the decedent's own conscious pain and suffering before death, lost earnings from the moment of injury until death, and the present value of lost future earnings.

Who is liable when a fatal crash happens on a local highway?

Liability depends on the facts — an impaired or distracted driver, a trucking company that pushed its driver past federal hours-of-service limits, a bar that over-served a visibly intoxicated patron (Pennsylvania dram-shop liability), an employer whose worker was on the job, or a public entity responsible for a dangerous road design or maintenance failure. We investigate every potentially responsible party so a Bensalem family isn't left recovering only against a driver with minimum insurance.

Is there a "cap" on wrongful death damages in a Bensalem case?

Pennsylvania does not cap wrongful death or survival damages against private defendants. Caps apply to claims against Commonwealth agencies ($250,000 per plaintiff / $1M per incident under the Sovereign Immunity Act) and local agencies ($500,000 per incident under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act). Punitive damages against a medical provider are capped at 200% of compensatory damages.

Do you handle Bensalem wrongful death cases on contingency?

Yes. We represent Bensalem families on a contingency-fee basis — no attorney's fee unless we recover compensation for you. The consultation is free and confidential, and we advance the cost of accident reconstruction, medical and economic experts, and probate assistance so grieving families can focus on their loved ones, not on legal bills.

Local Representation

Bensalem, PA Personal Injury Lawyer

Name: Quinlan Law Group
Address: 3425 Simpson Ferry Rd #100, Camp Hill, PA, 17011, US
Telephone: (717) 724-7503
Price range: Contingency Fee — No Fee Unless We Win

Serious collisions frequently occur at the junction of I-95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and US-1, especially involving heavy freight traffic near the Neshaminy Mall and high-volume intersections along Knight and Street Roads.

Legal representation extends across Cornwells Heights, Trevose, and Oakford, coordinating with Jefferson Torresdale Hospital and the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas for local litigation.

Reviewed by Sean Quinlan, Esq. — attorney licensed in Pennsylvania (PA Attorney ID 86858)

Bensalem content on this page is written and reviewed by Sean Quinlan, who handles injury and wrongful-death claims across Pennsylvania. About the attorney · Verify PA license

Bensalem Township sits where I-95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and US-1 converge in Lower Bucks County, a geography that turns everyday commuting into a gauntlet of merge points and freight bottlenecks. Families here are as likely to be hurt by a distracted commuter cutting across three lanes near Street Road as by a tractor-trailer barreling through the Turnpike interchange. When a crash upends your routine — missed shifts at a Neshaminy-area employer, a child who can't get back to practice, medical bills arriving before you've even had your car appraised — you need someone who treats the township's traffic patterns as more than statistics. I built my practice around exactly that kind of granular knowledge, because insurance adjusters count on you not having it, and I refuse to let that imbalance stand.

Where crashes happen in Bensalem

Bensalem's crash geography is dictated by its interchanges. The I-95 and Turnpike interchange near Street Road funnels regional freight traffic into local lanes never designed for that volume, and rear-end and lane-change collisions cluster there during evening rush. US-1 (Roosevelt Boulevard's northern extension) carries fast-moving through-traffic past the Neshaminy Mall retail strip, where left-turn and pedestrian-crossing collisions are common at unprotected intersections. Knight Road and Street Road themselves see frequent T-bone crashes at signalized intersections choked with shopping-center traffic, especially near big-box retail entrances where visibility is poor. Drivers cutting between the Turnpike and Route 1 to avoid tolls often take secondary roads at speeds unsuited to residential blocks. Each of these patterns produces its own evidentiary trail — traffic-camera footage, EZ-Pass timestamps, dispatch logs — and knowing which one applies to your crash shapes how the case gets built from day one.

Filing suit: venue and jurisdiction for Bensalem claims

Claims arising in Bensalem are filed in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, sitting in the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown, Pennsylvania's 7th Judicial District. Bucks County requires compliance with Pa.R.C.P. 1006 and 2179 venue rules, and depending on where a defendant resides or where the collision occurred, filing in Bucks County is typically proper and strategically sound given local jury pools familiar with the township's traffic congestion. Pennsylvania's two-year statute of limitations for personal injury, codified at 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524, governs the deadline to sue, and if a Turnpike Commission vehicle or another government actor is involved, the notice and immunity provisions matter considerably. If your own policy includes limited tort coverage, 75 Pa. C.S. § 1705(d)(3) may restrict your ability to recover for pain and suffering absent a qualifying serious injury, which is why an early, honest coverage review is part of my process.

Emergency care and medical records in Bensalem

Serious injuries from Bensalem-area collisions are typically stabilized at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital or transported further into Philadelphia's trauma network depending on severity. I move quickly to request EMS run sheets, hospital intake records, and imaging studies before records are purged or summarized in ways that understate what happened to you. Rehabilitation referrals, physical therapy notes, and any lost-wage documentation from your employer all become part of the record I build, because insurance carriers routinely try to shrink a claim down to whatever paperwork happens to survive the first few weeks.

Talk with a lawyer about your Bensalem case

I've watched Bensalem families get lowballed by insurers who assume no one is watching Street Road or the Turnpike interchange closely enough to push back. I am watching. If you or someone you love was hurt in a Bensalem-area crash, call my office before you sign anything from an adjuster — that call costs you nothing and protects everything.

Bensalem Practice Areas

Statewide practice-area guides

Broader Pennsylvania guides on each type of case we handle in Bensalem.

Serving Bensalem from our Camp Hill office

Consultations for Bensalem injury claims are free, and we travel to clients who cannot travel to us.

Quinlan Law Group

3425 Simpson Ferry Rd #100
Camp Hill, PA 17011
(717) 724-7503
intake@paaccidentandinjuryattorney.com

Available 24/7 for new injury cases

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Where Bucks County cases are filed

Bucks County Justice Center
100 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA 18901
215-348-6609

Nearby communities we serve

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Talk directly with Sean Quinlan, Esq.. No fee unless we win.

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