What Money Damages Are Available In A Wrongful Death Claim?
In Washington there are four
interrelated statutes which govern
calculation of recoverable damages in a
wrongful death claim. None of those
statutes can ever replace the husband,
wife, parent, or child who was lost.
Ever.
At the same time a successful claim can
help the survivors in many ways.
An attorney can coordinate with the
criminal prosecution of the party at
fault. An attorney can help arrange for
grief counseling. But of course, our
most important form of support to
grieving families is in securing
monetary compensation for their loss.
Money cannot relieve the grief but it
can help to relieve financial burdens.
So to answer your question, there are
four statutes.
The first statute governs loss of a
minor.
If the person who died was a minor, that
is under 18, or a child on whom one or
both parents were dependent for support,
damages are defined to include “loss of
love and companionship of the child and
for injury to or destruction of the
parent-child relationship in such amount
as, under all the circumstances of the
case, may be just.”
That is very broad language. Courts have
interpreted it to include parental
grief, mental anguish and suffering.
Significantly, computation of damages is
not limited to the time the child is
under 18. These losses continue forever.
A second statute also allows damages to
be recovered for the loss of a child or
an adult on behalf of "…The wife,
husband, child or children" of the
deceased.
Adults who are single and without
children do not qualify.
For people who die with a surviving
spouse or child: “the jury may give such
damages as, under all circumstances of
the case, may to them be just.”
Pain and suffering in anticipation of
death is recoverable under this statute.
So whether an adult who dies has
dependents, and therefore qualifies for
these recoveries, dramatically affects
verdicts and settlements in death
claims.
A third statute allows recovery for all
people even if they were unmarried
without dependents.
The recovery is to their estate and
includes the present value of their
future net earnings
had they lived a normal life expectancy,
that is, their future income minus their
future spending, or their net
accumulations.
The Estate must prove these losses
through the calculations of an
economist.
A fourth statute allows recovery for
medical, hospital, medication, funeral
and related expenses.
These are the four statutes.
There are two ways to estimate the
monetary settlement value of a claim. We
use a combination of the two.
First, to find a total claim value, add
up the amounts you are entitled to for
property damage, medical expenses,
funeral expenses, the present value of
future lost net accumulations,
and the general damages allowed for loss
of a child, spouse, or parent.
Since general damages are difficult to
predict, we use a second method to
estimate a monetary settlement value.
We review state, regional and national
publications and computerized databases
to find similar claims in similar
situations and similar liability
patterns to develop a statistical
analysis of value.
We then review these estimates in light
of our 36 years experience trying and
settling wrongful death cases across the
state of Washington.
We have recovered record verdicts on
wrongful death cases in several
jurisdictions in Western and Eastern
Washington, so we know what is possible.
I hope that answers your question in
general.
If you want an estimate on how much a
particular wrongful death claim is
worth, our website has a
free claim
evaluation form.
