A man drives his snowmobile after getting drunk at a bar and crashes into a tree and is killed. Who can pursue a claim and who would it be filed against?

The man's surviving spouse and heirs have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim. This claim is filed to help family members obtain damages for the amount of wages lost, medical bills incurred, and loss of comfort, aid, society, and companionship. Their wrongful death/dram shop claim would be filed against the bar that served him, caused his obvious intoxication that contributed to the accident.

If the snowmobiler is not killed but seriously injured, he does not have the right to file a dram shop claim against the bar that illegally served him but his family members would still have a claim for his lost wages and medical bills resulting from his injuries.