Wrongful Death, Settlement Agreements and the Court
This interesting article pinpoints some of the problems and conflicts that arise when a person dies and there's the potential for a wrongful death action. George A. Smith IV mysteriously disappeared while he was on a honeymoon cruise with his wife, Jennifer Hagel-Smith. According to the article:
Smith, a 26-year-old..., disappeared off a Mediterranean cruise last July 5. He left behind bloodstains and questions about what he and four other passengers who were last seen together were doing early that morning. At the time he vanished, Hagel-Smith was found passed out drunk in a hallway on the other side of the ship. She said she has no recollection of what happened. Smith's body was never found, and the FBI is still investigating.
Ms. Hagel-Smith, acting as administrator of her husband's estate, has reached a settlement agreement with the cruise line, Royal Caribbean International. The settlement is in lieu of the filing of a wrongful death action against the cruise line. However, Mr. Smith's family -- which has filed its own suit against Royal Caribbean -- may object to the settlement, which must be approved by the probate court.
I think Ms. Hagel-Smith is in a very tough spot here. She believes that other passengers may have done something to her husband, and "Royal Caribbean has promised in
its settlement to give her unfettered access to information, such as
vessel logs, video and passenger statements of what they heard, saw and
did during the hours of Smith's disappearance." If she's right, then the settlement gives the estate some money up front, and the ability to pursue the other passengers. If she's wrong, and Royal Caribbean was in some way responsible for her husband's death, she may have settled for less money than she needed to.
