Can someone sue you if someone died in your home?

Answer 1

Yes. That doesn't mean they'll win, or even that it won't simply get thrown out of court as being baseless, but technically, if they can find a lawyer who's willing to do it, they can sue you.

In order to win the case, they'll basically have to show that the death was "your fault" ... that is, that it was a direct result of something you did (or failed to do). If you're sitting on the couch with a visitor and they just suddenly died due to some medical condition you could not possibly have known about or prevented even if you did know about it, they're not likely to win. If the person started choking and you, instead of calling 911, decided to go take a bath, then they might win. If you shot the person, they're extremely likely to win.

Answer 2

First, the fields of Law and Medicine make a distinction between:

1. A death event in which a medical professional (doctor, sometimes a nurse) is present, versus
2. A death event in which NO medical professional is present.

The ONLY authority permitted to "Declare" death has occurred is a doctor. Coroners are often physicians, OR are given the right by the State to declare death.

When a death occurs outside the presence of a Physician, e.g. no doctor is there, it is ALWAYS a death from unknown causes. Even if a person is shot, and any person there can see that the person was shot, it is still "unknown" because none of those people are doctors or a coroner.

When a person dies in your home

Any person who witnesses someone die or finds someone is dead must call the police. Dispatch will ask questions. They relay that info to the police who are responding.

The police will check the person's vital signs, first. An ambulance is likely sent at the same time. The ambulance will check the patient. If the death is not suspicious, or part of a violent crime, the ambulance might transport the patient to the E.R., because only a physician / coroner can legally declare death. The time of that declaration is the "time of death". But if suspicious, or part of violent crime, or any other red flags, they call the coroner to come.

The police listen to what you tell them-- for examples:

• I heard something fall and came to the stairs to look, and saw him at the bottom of the stairs.
• My mother has not been well. She was battling Stage 4 Cancer.
• The mailman rang my doorbell to deliver a package--I had to sign for it. He didn't look well. Next I know, he collapsed on my porch and fell so he is in my doorway.
• I was away for the week. I came home to find this man on my kitchen floor. He broke in; I do not know him.
• My father was cleaning his gun and it went off.
• My child fell in the pool.

The police and coroner will ask many questions.

If declared a crime scene, the body is left where it is until the police are done processing the crime scene. Once the police are done with the scene, the coroner removes the body. **ALL deaths that occur outside the presence of a physician require an autopsy be done.

If there are biohazards seen on the physical aspects of a room, the police can tell you what companies you can hire to safely clean the biohazards.

Once the police have released the scene and the body is removed, the resident/s of the house are free to do as they please in the home, unless instructed otherwise.

Note:

Nearly all older homes worldwide have been the scene of at least one natural or accidental death in the history of the structure.