Wrongful Death For Foreign Nationals In New York
New York has a highly vibrant and diverse community with a high population of foreign nationals, illegal or undocumented aliens and tourists. Unfortunately all to often, these immigrants and foreign nationals are involved in accidents which cause personal injury or death.
Our New York personal injury lawyers have represented numerous foreign nationals and undocumented aliens in accidents including car accidents, construction accidents and even wrongful death cases. Wrongful death cases are becoming more common for undocumented aliens in New York’s construction industry.
There are several unique issues in representing foreign nationals and undocumented aliens in wrongful death cases. First, in New York, only the estate representative can commence a lawsuit for wrongful death. So the first question is whether there is anyone who resides in New York that can serve as estate representative. Unfortunately, the Courts will not allow an undocumented alien to serve as an estate representative and all to often a tourist or alien working in the U.S., does not have any family locally, who can act as the estate administrator. In these cases our New York injury attorneys contact the public administrator’s office and get them appointed as an estate representative, so that a wrongful death lawsuit can be commenced for the decedent and their families. Often the families think that they do not have any rights because they do not reside in the United States or are not here legally. This is incorrect, and while a foreign national or illegal alien cannot serve as an estate administrator in the State of New York, the New York Courts have expressly recognized the rights of foreign tourists, illegal aliens and foreign nationals have full access to the New York Courts and have the same right to file a lawsuit and recover monetary damages as a U.S. citizen.
Our New York wrongful death attorneys speak Spanish and have extensive experience in representing the large undocumented population and their families in the New York Metropolitan area. New York’s construction industry and food industries continue to draw immigrant labor from South American especially, Mexico, Columbia, Equador, El Salvador, Honduras and Peru. These dangerous jobs draw poor immigrants from South America, who regularly send money home to their families. When the working member of the family here is killed, it is often both a human and financial tragedy and devastation to the foreign family members. Our New York lawyers fight hard to make sure that the families of foreign nationals who die in New York are treated fairly by the New York Courts and receive the justice they deserve.