There's no version of this that a lawsuit fixes. If you're reading this, someone you love is gone because of another person's carelessness, and nothing I or anyone else does will change that. What the law can do is hold the responsible party accountable and provide for the family left behind — the income that vanished, the future that was taken, the security your loved one would have provided. That's not about a number replacing a person. It's about your family not being crushed twice.
I'm Scott DeSalvo. For almost 30 years I've stood with DuPage County families through the worst thing that can happen to them. I'll handle the legal weight so you can grieve. This page explains, gently but honestly, how Illinois wrongful death cases work, and everything here comes with a free, no-pressure conversation whenever you're ready.
Most people don't realize that a death caused by negligence can give rise to two separate claims under Illinois law, and a good case usually pursues both.
This claim is for the surviving family members — the spouse and the next of kin. It compensates for what YOU lost: the financial support, the guidance, the companionship, the presence of the person who's gone. In Illinois, that includes grief, sorrow, and the loss of that relationship.
This one is different. It belongs to the person who died, carried forward by their estate, and it covers what THEY endured between the injury and their passing — the conscious pain, the suffering, the medical expenses, the lost wages in that window. Where there was a period of suffering before death, this claim can be substantial, and it's entirely separate from the family's loss.
Pursued together, these two claims tell the whole story. Pursued as one, or missed, and part of it goes uncompensated.
Here's a practical point that trips families up: a wrongful death case in Illinois isn't filed by "the family" as a group. It's brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate — often a spouse or adult child who has to be formally appointed, sometimes through a probate step. The recovery is then distributed among the surviving spouse and next of kin according to their degree of dependency and loss.
It sounds bureaucratic in the middle of grief, and I know that. Part of what I do is handle that machinery — the appointment, the estate, the court process in the DuPage County courthouse in Wheaton — so the family isn't navigating probate paperwork on top of a funeral.
Wrongful death claims arise wherever fatal harm could have been prevented: a fatal crash on I-355 or North Avenue, a workplace incident that took a worker's life, a medical error that proved fatal, a nursing-home death from neglect, a defective product, or any other negligence that ended in tragedy. The cause differs; the core question is the same — did someone's failure to act with reasonable care cause this death, and can we prove it.
Whatever the cause, these cases deserve to be built carefully, because you only get one chance to hold the right party accountable and to provide for the people your loved one left behind.
Look, I wish I could tell you that in the face of a death, the insurance company behaves with decency. Sometimes the people do. The company does not. Its financial exposure is highest in exactly these cases, which means it fights hardest — questioning how much the deceased truly contributed to the family, disputing dependency, arguing the death wasn't really their insured's fault, and quietly hoping a grieving family accepts an early, inadequate offer just to make it end.
What most lawyers won't tell you is that the first offer after a death is often calculated on the assumption that your family is too overwhelmed to fight. You don't have to be. That's what I'm for.
These are not cases to hand to someone learning on the job. They combine hard liability fights, complex damages, and an estate process, all while a family is at its most vulnerable. Insurers resolve them fairly only when the family's lawyer is genuinely prepared to try the case — and almost 30 years of experience, along with trial training through Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College and the Keenan Trial Institute, is what makes that preparation credible. The goal is a fair resolution without dragging your family through a trial, and readiness is what produces it.
Illinois law allows a family to recover for the loss of financial support the deceased would have provided, the loss of their companionship, guidance, and society, the family's grief and sorrow, and — through the survival claim — the pain and expenses the person suffered before death, along with funeral and burial costs. No amount is the point. Providing for the future your loved one worked toward is.
Bottom Line: the accountability and the security your family is owed don't happen on their own — someone has to demand them, carefully and on your behalf.
There's no rush in this conversation and no pressure in it. When you're ready, call me and tell me what happened. I'll explain your family's rights, handle the parts that feel impossible right now, and never charge you a dime unless I recover for your family. You pay nothing out of pocket.
I'm available whenever you need me, day or night. Call 312-500-4500.
The case is filed by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate — commonly a surviving spouse or adult child, who may need to be formally appointed by the court first. The money recovered is then distributed among the surviving spouse and next of kin based on their dependency and loss. If no representative has been appointed yet, that's one of the first things I help the family take care of.
Generally two years from the date of death, though the deadline can shift depending on the cause — a death from medical malpractice or one involving a government entity can carry different timing and notice rules. Because those exceptions can shorten your window significantly, and because building one of these cases well takes time, it's best to speak with a lawyer sooner rather than later.
A wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family for their loss — the support, companionship, and guidance they no longer have. A survival claim is brought on behalf of the person who died and covers what they themselves endured before passing, like conscious pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages in that period. Illinois allows both, and strong cases typically pursue them together so nothing is left uncompensated.
Nothing up front, and nothing unless I recover for your family. I handle these cases on contingency and advance the costs of investigation and litigation myself. The last thing a grieving family needs is a legal bill, so you'll never pay one out of pocket to pursue justice for the person you lost.
Please talk to a lawyer before you sign anything. An early offer, before your family or an attorney has evaluated the full extent of the loss, is almost always far below what the claim is worth — and accepting it usually closes the door on anything more, permanently. There's no cost to have me review an offer and tell you honestly whether it's fair.
Scott DeSalvo founded DeSalvo Law to help injured people throughout Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Licensed to practice law in Illinois since 1998, IARDC #6244452, Scott has represented over 3,000 clients in personal injury, workers compensation, and accident cases.
No Fee Unless You Win | Free Consultation | 24/7 Availability Call or Text: (312) 500-4500
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