How much can You Get as Wrongful Death Damages
Wrongful death damages are given to compensate the survivors or heirs and not the deceased victims (decedent) of accidents. Hence the heirs and survivors are not entitled to the damages recovered in most personal injury claim such as medical expenses, lost income, and property damage. The claim belongs to the victim’s estate and can only be recovered by the heirs through survival action.
In other words, a wrongful death claim is intended to compensate the heirs for their losses as a result of the victim’s death.
Who Can File a Claim
According to California’s wrongful death law, only relatives or individuals with relationship to the victim can file the wrongful death claim. In descending order, they include the following:
- The victim’s spouse, children, dependent stepchildren, dependent minors living in the victim’s household for at least six months, and dependent parents.
- If these heirs do not exist, the entitled claimants who will inherit the victim’s estate under the law of intestate succession would be the parents (dependent or not), then siblings or children of deceased siblings; if there are none, grandparents and if there are none, children of deceased spouse
- If none of them exists, the next of kin may file a wrongful death lawsuit
Recoverable Damages
Heirs and survivors of accident victims can receive compensation on the following type of economic damages:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Financial support that the wrongful death victim would have given the heir during the victim’s life expectancy or the heir, whichever is higher
- Loss of gifts or benefits that the heir would have received from the victim
- Value of services that the victim would have provided to the heir
In California, the jury may also award monetary value of some non-economic losses due to a wrongful death. These include the following:
- Compensation for loss of victim’s love, companionship, care, comfort, assistance, protection, affection and society
- Compensation for the loss of enjoyment of sexual relations, if applicable
- Compensation for loss of training and guidance of the victim, if applicable
Except in cases where a parent or sibling has witness the injury or death of the victim, a jury is not permitted to consider grief, mental anguish, or sorrow, pain and suffering and the poverty or wealth of the heirs in awarding monetary value in non-economic losses. However in cases where a relative has witness the victim’s injury or death, the heirs may claim for damages for infliction of emotional distress.
How much Can Heirs Receive
The amount of damages the heirs may receive in a wrongful death case depends on several factors such as the following:
- Age and health of the victim and the heirs
- Life expectancy of the deceased and heirs
- Financial loss
- Status of the heirs
- Emotional loss
- Insurance coverage
- Whether the survivors were dependent on the victim for income and support
Other factors that may also be considered in computing damages are loss of companionship, loss of love and affection of the surviving spouse, children, parents, and other family members
Pursuing a wrongful death claim may be pursued by a representative, preferably an experienced lawyer who handles wrongful death claims and related issues.
