Can You Sue if Your Child Drowns in Someone's Pool?
Posted on: 15 October 2015
Losing a child is never easy to deal with, but a sudden loss due to a tragic event can make this even harder. If your child recently drowned in someone's swimming pool, you might be able to sue the pool owner. While this will not bring your child back, it will hold the pool owner responsible for the event. In order to win a case like this, you will need to prove the pool owner was negligent. Here are three things you may want to look into to help prove your case.
Was The Homeowner Responsible For Your Child?
The first question to ask when determining whether or not the pool owner is to blame for this event is whether he or she was responsible for your child at the time of the incident. If the pool owner had invited your child over to swim or play, he or she will probably be held liable for the incident. You gave the person the responsibility of watching your child for a period of time, but the person failed to do this properly.
If the pool owner had not given your child permission to come over and swim, you will need to further investigate the situation to find out what happened.
Was the Pool Protected?
If your child was not given permission to come over to this person's house, how did the child get to the pool? This is the question you will need to answer when determining who is at fault for the accident. All swimming pool owners in Canada are required to have a fence around their pools, and this is primarily designed for safety purposes.
When there is a fence around a pool, it makes it much harder for anyone to enter through to get to the swimming pool. Without a fence, anyone could wander onto a person's yard and end up in a swimming pool.
If your child had wandered off and ended up drowning, you should thoroughly inspect the persons' yard. You will need to look at the fence to see what type of shape it is in. If the fence is in great shape and closed off completely, it may be hard to sue the owner of the pool. In this situation, the owner had taken all the necessary precautions to stop people from getting in the pool.
On the other hand, if the fence has holes or gaps in it, or if the fence does not close properly, you might have a case against the person. In this situation, the owner did not take all necessary legal precautions to prevent drownings from occurring.
What Damages Can You Recover?
If you have enough evidence to prove the homeowner was negligent in this case, and that this negligence led to the drowning of your child, you may want to talk to a personal injury attorney. When you do this, you can find out if you should sue the homeowner, and you can learn more about the statutes of limitation for wrongful death cases.
Your attorney will review the case and examine all the evidence relating to it. If he or she believes you can win, the attorney will suggest suing. If you win, you may be able to receive compensation for your loss. This compensation may cover the costs of the funeral and money for your emotional pain and suffering.
If you are not sure if you should take action after a situation like this, talk to an attorney. A personal injury law in Calgary will be able to help you make the right decision after a devastating event occurs in your life.
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