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McGuire Law

Columbia Wrongful Death Personal Injury Attorney

Losing a family member in a preventable accident caused by someone else's negligence destroys everything—what should have been years together becomes funeral planning, financial devastation, and fighting insurance companies who minimize your loved one's life to actuarial calculations while grieving families struggle emotionally and financially.

Fatal Accidents Require Immediate Legal Action - Call Now for Free
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Available 24/7 - Immediate Response for Wrongful Death Cases

Attorney Matt McGuire

Whether your spouse was killed in a truck collision on I-26, your child died from medical malpractice at a Columbia, South Carolina hospital, your parent was killed by a drunk driver on Garners Ferry Road, or your family member's death resulted from workplace negligence, nursing home abuse, or any preventable tragedy throughout Richland or Lexington Counties, South Carolina's wrongful death statute provides legal remedies that can never replace who you lost but ensures accountability and financial security.

Matt McGuire has represented grieving Columbia families for over three decades, pursuing maximum wrongful death compensation from negligent drivers, medical providers, corporations, and all parties whose recklessness killed your loved ones.

The Legal Expertise of McGuire Law

Wrongful death claims require attorneys who understand probate procedures, damage calculations, and the aggressive tactics insurance companies use to minimize payouts to grieving families. Decades of experience make the difference between adequate settlements and maximum recovery.

Wrongful Death Claim Mastery

Comprehensive understanding of South Carolina wrongful death statutes, survival actions, and beneficiary rights ensuring families receive every dollar the law provides for their devastating losses.

Estate Administration Coordination

Guiding families through probate procedures, Personal Representative appointments, and beneficiary distributions while simultaneously pursuing wrongful death litigation.

Expert Witness Network

Relationships with accident reconstructionists, medical experts, economists, and life care planners who establish liability and quantify the full lifetime impact of wrongful deaths.

Insurance Company Negotiations

Decades battling insurance carriers who deploy lowball tactics, victim-blaming strategies, and delay tactics to minimize payouts to families who lost loved ones.

Trial-Ready Litigation

Willingness and ability to take wrongful death cases to trial forces insurance companies and defendants to offer fair settlements rather than risk jury verdicts.

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Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle

Columbia's roads, hospitals, workplaces, and facilities create wrongful death risks from negligence across every sector. We represent families who lost loved ones in preventable tragedies throughout Richland and Lexington Counties.

Motor Vehicle Fatalities

Deaths on I-26, I-77, Malfunction Junction, or Columbia streets where negligent drivers, drunk drivers, or distracted drivers caused fatal crashes destroying families.

Truck Accident Deaths

Fatal collisions involving commercial vehicles near Fort Jackson or along interstate corridors where trucking company negligence killed motorists.

Medical Malpractice Deaths

Preventable deaths at Prisma Health Richland, Lexington Medical Center, or Columbia medical facilities where physician errors, surgical mistakes, or delayed diagnoses proved fatal.

Workplace Fatalities

Deaths at Columbia construction sites, warehouses, or industrial facilities where safety violations or employer negligence killed workers supporting families.

Nursing Home Deaths

Abuse and neglect at Columbia assisted living facilities or nursing homes where inadequate care, understaffing, or abuse caused resident deaths.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Deaths

Fatal accidents where vehicles struck and killed vulnerable road users in Five Points, downtown Columbia, or throughout the metropolitan area.

Evidence Disappears Quickly After Fatal Accidents

Electronic evidence, surveillance footage, and witness memories fade within days. Immediate investigation preserves evidence that proves liability and maximizes recovery.

McGuire Law's Core Values

Families facing wrongful death deserve attorneys who combine aggressive pursuit of maximum compensation with compassionate understanding of devastating grief. Our values ensure you receive both fierce advocacy and genuine support.

Compassionate Representation

We understand you're grieving while fighting legal battles. We handle complex litigation with sensitivity, providing support while aggressively pursuing justice for your family.

Relentless Pursuit of Justice

Insurance companies hope grief and financial pressure force quick settlements. We fight relentlessly to hold negligent parties fully accountable for taking your loved one's life.

Family-First Communication

You'll work directly with Matt McGuire throughout your case. We explain complex legal procedures clearly, keep you informed, and ensure you make decisions understanding all options.

No Upfront Costs

Wrongful death cases are handled on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation—allowing grieving families to pursue justice regardless of financial circumstances.

Maximum Recovery Focus

Beyond immediate losses, we pursue full lifetime damages including lost financial support, lost companionship, and punitive damages when conduct warrants punishment.

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Damages Available in Wrongful Death Cases

South Carolina law provides substantial damages for wrongful death beneficiaries. Understanding available compensation reveals how insurance companies shortchange families who don't have experienced legal representation.

Economic Damages

Lost financial support deceased would have provided throughout expected lifetime—often millions for young wage earners supporting families.

Loss of Consortium

Compensation for surviving spouse's lost companionship, guidance, affection, and marital relationship destroyed by negligent death.

Loss of Parental Guidance

Damages for minor children who lost a parent's nurturing, education, discipline, and life direction they deserved growing up.

Mental Anguish and Grief

Compensation for beneficiaries suffering devastating emotional trauma from preventable loss of loved ones.

Funeral and Burial Expenses

Reimbursement for costs of services, caskets, burial plots, and memorial expenses families incur.

Punitive Damages

Additional damages punishing and deterring egregious conduct when defendants acted with conscious disregard for human life.

The McGuire Law Difference

Wrongful death cases require attorneys who understand estate administration, damage calculation complexities, and how to counter insurance company tactics designed to minimize payouts to grieving families. Matt McGuire brings over 30 years of specialized expertise to every case.

Three Decades of Wrongful Death Experience

Over 30 years representing grieving families throughout South Carolina, recovering tens of millions in wrongful death compensation from negligent parties and their insurers.

Immediate Investigation Response

We dispatch investigators and experts immediately to preserve evidence, interview witnesses, and document liability before defendants can destroy records or memories fade.

Economic Expert Network

Relationships with economists who calculate lifetime lost earnings, benefits, and financial contributions ensuring families receive full compensation for economic devastation.

Probate Court Coordination

Seamlessly managing estate administration in Richland and Lexington County Probate Courts while pursuing wrongful death litigation simultaneously.

Trial-Ready When Necessary

Our willingness to take wrongful death cases to trial forces insurance companies to offer fair settlements rather than risk jury verdicts that can exceed policy limits.

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Insurance Company Tactics & Defenses

Insurance carriers profit by minimizing wrongful death payouts. Understanding their strategies helps families recognize when they need aggressive legal protection.

Quick Settlement Tactics

  • Lowball offers presented quickly hoping grief forces acceptance
  • Pressuring families to settle before understanding full damages
  • Minimizing economic loss with flawed calculations
  • Encouraging quick estate administration to expedite inadequate settlements

Defense Strategies

  • Blaming victims for contributing to their own deaths
  • Attacking family relationships to minimize consortium damages
  • Surveillance of grieving families at funerals and gatherings
  • Delay tactics hoping financial pressure weakens cases

Insurance Companies Deploy Lawyers Immediately

While you're planning funerals and processing grief, insurance carriers are building defenses. Level the playing field with experienced legal representation from day one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wrongful death involves unique legal procedures that differ from other personal injury claims. Here are answers to questions grieving Columbia families commonly ask.

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in South Carolina?

Only the Personal Representative of the deceased's estate can file wrongful death claims. This requires appointment through Richland or Lexington County Probate Court before litigation can proceed.

How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim?

South Carolina imposes a three-year statute of limitations from the date of death. However, evidence disappears quickly—immediate action preserves proof and strengthens claims.

Who receives wrongful death damages?

Statutory beneficiaries receive damages in order: surviving spouse and children first, then parents if no spouse or children exist, then heirs under intestacy laws.

What's the difference between wrongful death and survival actions?

Wrongful death compensates beneficiaries for their losses. Survival actions recover damages the deceased would have received for pre-death pain and suffering before death occurred.

Are there damage caps in South Carolina wrongful death cases?

No. South Carolina has no caps on wrongful death damages, allowing full recovery of economic losses, non-economic damages, and punitive damages when warranted.

Can I pursue claims against multiple defendants?

Yes. Wrongful death claims can name multiple negligent parties—drivers, employers, property owners, product manufacturers—maximizing potential recovery sources.

What if my loved one was partially at fault?

South Carolina's comparative negligence rules reduce damages proportionally to the deceased's fault percentage but don't eliminate claims unless fault exceeds 50%.

What does a wrongful death attorney cost?

We handle wrongful death cases on contingency—you pay nothing unless we recover compensation. This allows grieving families to pursue justice regardless of financial resources.

Matt McGuire - Attorney

About South Carolina Attorney Matt McGuire

Matt McGuire South Carolina Criminal Defense Personal Injury Family Law Attorney

With over 30 years of experience defending South Carolina, McGuire Law provides elite legal representation with national recognition. McGuire Law has grown from a small practice into one of the most trusted law firms in South Carolina.

McGuire Law is committed to each client's unique situation, and we don't believe in boilerplate solutions. Every case requires careful analysis, strategic planning, and aggressive representation.

McGuire Law serves all 46 South Carolina counties. We know these counties, their courts, their legal communities, and most importantly, the people who live here.

Matt McGuire received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina.

Matt has served as a law clerk for a State Circuit Judge, an Assistant Attorney General for the State of South Carolina, and an Assistant Solicitor in the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Matt is a proud husband, father of two, and a long-time resident of Richland County, South Carolina.

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Get Started Today

When negligence takes a loved one's life in Columbia, you need more than just any attorney – you need Matt McGuire and McGuire Law.

Don't let another day pass without proper legal protection against negligent parties and their insurance companies. Call McGuire Law now and experience the difference that personal, aggressive, and effective legal representation can make in your wrongful death case.

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Columbia Office

2001 Assembly Street, Suite 102-B
Columbia, SC 29201

(888) 499-5738

Contact McGuire Law Today

Matt McGuire has represented grieving Columbia families in wrongful death cases for over 30 years, recovering tens of millions in compensation and achieving justice when negligence killed loved ones.

"Success isn't given. It's earned." — Unknown