- Last Modified:
When someone else’s carelessness takes a loved one from you, the grief can make the days that follow feel overwhelming and uncertain. While your family is trying to process an unimaginable loss, you may also be faced with funeral arrangements and painful questions about what happened. It is a deeply difficult time, and no one should be expected to navigate it alone.
Hite Law Firm represents McCormick, South Carolina families after a wrongful death, whether it happened on Lake Thurmond, on Highway 378, or somewhere else entirely. We have spent more than 40 years building cases against the people and companies responsible for these losses.
Speaking with a McCormick wrongful death attorney costs you nothing. That conversation can start today.
How South Carolina Defines Wrongful Death
South Carolina law lets your family sue whoever caused a loved one’s death through negligence, recklessness, or intentional harm. That right comes from South Carolina Code Section 15-51-10. A related statute, Section 15-51-20, puts the estate’s personal representative in charge of bringing that lawsuit on the family’s behalf.
This civil case has nothing to do with any criminal charges connected to the same death. Criminal court needs proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil court needs something less: proof that it is more likely than not the defendant caused the death. We regularly meet McCormick families who assume no criminal charges means no case. That assumption is usually wrong.
A conversation with a McCormick wrongful death lawyer can clear up whether the criminal side of your case changes anything.
Who Can File a Claim in McCormick
Only the estate’s personal representative can bring a wrongful death lawsuit. Usually that is the executor your loved one named in a will. Without a will, the McCormick County Probate Court appoints someone, typically a spouse or adult child. The representative works for the family, not for the estate’s creditors.
South Carolina sets a specific order for who recovers:
- A surviving spouse or children stand first in line.
- Parents inherit that position if there is no spouse or child.
- South Carolina’s intestacy laws determine anyone beyond that.
What each person recovers depends on the loss they experienced, not a fixed formula. Getting someone appointed as personal representative is often the first real step. Our office moves that process through McCormick County Probate Court, housed in the historic county courthouse on Mine Street, without unnecessary delay.
Common Causes of Fatal Accidents in McCormick
McCormick County is small, rural, and built around water. Lake Thurmond alone covers more than 70,000 acres along the county’s edge. It draws boaters and anglers from across the region on nearly every warm-weather weekend. US-378 and US-221 run together through downtown McCormick. SC-28 crosses through as well, carrying traffic bound for Augusta, Greenwood, and the lake. According to SCDPS collision data, McCormick County recorded 18 traffic deaths between October 2019 and September 2024. That is a small number by raw count, but it reflects a real risk given how few people live here year-round.
Cases we handle for McCormick families most often involve:
- Car accidents on US-378, US-221, and the county’s two-lane roads
- Commercial trucking accidents tied to freight moving along US-378 toward Augusta and Columbia
- Medical malpractice, including delayed or missed diagnoses at area providers
- Nursing home neglect affecting residents of McCormick County care facilities
- Motorcycle accidents on the winding roads around Lake Thurmond and Sumter National Forest
| Cause | Contributing Factors | Potentially Liable Parties |
|---|---|---|
| Car accidents | Distracted or drunk driving, speeding on US-378 and US-221 | Negligent drivers, vehicle owners |
| Trucking accidents | Driver fatigue, improper loading, freight traffic on US-378 | Trucking companies, drivers, cargo loaders |
| Medical malpractice | Delayed diagnosis, medication errors, surgical mistakes | Hospitals, physicians, medical staff |
| Nursing home neglect | Understaffing, inadequate supervision, medication mismanagement | Care facility owners and operators |
| Motorcycle accidents | Failure to yield, unsafe passing on rural roads | Negligent drivers, roadway maintenance authorities |
| Boating accidents (Lake Thurmond) | Alcohol use, operator inexperience, overcrowded watercraft | Boat operators, rental or marina operators |
Note: This table reflects general categories of negligence recognized under South Carolina law and is not a substitute for a case-specific legal evaluation.
Every case on this list shares the same root cause. Somebody failed to do what a careful person would have done. That failure proved fatal.
“Professional, compassionate service. Highly recommended.”
Renee S.
What a Wrongful Death Case Must Prove
A wrongful death claim in McCormick rises or falls on four legal elements:
- Duty. The at-fault party owed your loved one some legal responsibility, like a boat operator’s duty to passengers or a driver’s duty to other cars.
- Breach. That responsibility was not met, through carelessness, recklessness, or intentional conduct.
- Causation. The breach is what caused the death, not simply something that happened nearby in time.
- Damages. Your family suffered real, measurable losses as a result.
Insurance companies quickly request the coroner’s report after a death. They are looking for language about contributing factors that could suggest your loved one shared some blame. We request that report just as quickly to understand it before anyone else gets to shape the story.
Compensation Available in a Wrongful Death Case
What you can recover splits into two separate legal categories. Families often pursue both in the same lawsuit.
Wrongful Death Action Damages
These damages belong to the people your loved one left behind:
- Financial support your loved one would have provided
- Companionship, guidance, and household contributions
- Mental anguish and emotional suffering among survivors
- Loss of the marital relationship, for a surviving spouse
- Funeral and burial costs
Survival Action Damages
A survival action belongs to the estate, not the family directly. It covers what your loved one endured between the incident and their death:
- Medical treatment costs before passing
- Physical pain and suffering during that period
- Any wages lost due to incapacity before death
Can Punitive Damages Apply?
When the conduct behind a death was especially reckless, South Carolina courts can add punitive damages on top of everything else. Punitive damages exist to punish, not just to compensate. Our attorneys look at whether your case supports that kind of claim early on.
How Long You Have to File in South Carolina
South Carolina gives your family three years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. That deadline comes from S.C. Code Section 15-3-530. Once it passes, in most cases, the right to recover anything disappears.
A shorter window applies if a government entity or employee caused the death, sometimes as little as two years, with notice requirements attached on top. Three years sounds like plenty of time right now. Evidence does not share that patience. Witnesses move away. Physical evidence gets cleaned up, repaired, or lost.
Reaching out now, while evidence is still available, protects your family’s ability to recover what you are owed.
When the Death Happened on the Job
If your loved one died while working in McCormick, workers’ compensation is usually the only path against their employer. That is state law. It does not have to feel like a dead end for your family.
A third party outside that employment relationship can still be responsible. Think of a subcontractor, an equipment maker, a property owner, or a driver unconnected to the job itself. When one of them contributed to the death, a separate lawsuit can run alongside the workers’ compensation claim.
We check every workplace death for third-party liability as standard practice. Workers’ compensation pays out under a strict statutory cap. A third-party lawsuit is not capped that way. It can include damages, like pain and suffering, that workers’ compensation leaves out entirely.
When an Injury Case Turns Into a Death
Every so often, we are already representing a McCormick client for a catastrophic injury when that injury becomes fatal. When it does, we take over the wrongful death claim ourselves. Your family will not have to explain the whole case again to a new attorney. The evidence, the witnesses, and the groundwork we already built keep moving forward.
This shows up in several kinds of cases. Wherever the injury started, our attorneys pursue every avenue of recovery South Carolina law allows.
“The attorneys and staff at Hite Law Firm are professional in every aspect of their practice. They deliver excellent client service in a prompt and efficient manner.”
Josh G.
Why McCormick Families Turn to Hite Law Firm
Our firm has handled fatal accident cases for more than 40 years. We take these cases on contingency. There is nothing to pay upfront. Nothing is owed unless we win money for your family.
Martindale-Hubbell has rated our attorneys AV Preeminent. Super Lawyers has recognized our team too. Both credentials follow us into every case we take, from the first phone call through a jury verdict if that is where the case needs to go.
Families across South Carolina have brought their wrongful death cases to our firm. Our results back up that trust. One example: a $1.87 million settlement in a trucking accident case that ended in a death.
No past case guarantees a specific result in yours. Every situation is different. What these results demonstrate is what committed, well-prepared representation can accomplish.
Talk to a McCormick Wrongful Death Attorney
Grief does not clock out for paperwork, phone calls from adjusters, or court filings. Nobody should have to manage all of that while also grieving. Handling it is exactly what our firm is here to do.
Once you contact us, our team gets started. We learn your loved one’s story. Then we build the record your claim will need, piece by piece. From there, we take every call from insurance companies and opposing attorneys off your plate. You will always know what is happening with your case, without having to track anyone down yourself.
When you are ready, talk to our McCormick wrongful death attorneys. It costs nothing and asks nothing of you until we have earned your trust.
