Q: Can a child of the deceased file a separate lawsuit from the deceased's spouse?
My father was killed 4 weeks in a house fire. There were multiple violations on the home & there also were no smoke detectors so I would like to sue the landlord for negligence, however, my mother was married to my father at the time of his death and she has already filed a lawsuit. As his daughter, am I able to hire a different attorney and file a separate lawsuit from my mother?
A: Only one lawsuit can be filed on behalf of the estate. As you are a distributee under New York's estate laws, you should recover a share of any settlement proceeds according to the laws of intestacy. You should contact the lawyer your mother retained to discuss this further.
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