Types of Damages You Can Recover in a Wrongful Death Case
What damages can families recover when a wrongful death shatters their world, and why is understanding these categories vital for securing justice? Whether from a fatal crash or a medical error, wrongful death claims enable surviving loved ones to seek compensation for financial losses and emotional suffering. From lost household income to funeral expenses, each damage type reflects the real impact of a life cut short.
Wrongful Death Case Damages Defined
In a wrongful death case, damages are typically categorized into two main types: economic and non-economic. Economic damages compensate for measurable financial losses, while non-economic damages address intangible harm, such as grief and mental anguish. Understanding the nature of these wrongful death categories ensures you claim all entitled damages, maximizing recovery for your family.
Additionally, multiple parties can be liable for the incurred damages. For instance, a trucking company and its truck driver could share responsibility in a truck accident case. It is essential for claimants to understand the accountability of the parties involved, and a knowledgeable personal injury attorney could help boost their claim.
Types of Damages You Can Recover in a Wrongful Death Case
Below is a breakdown of the various types of damages that relatives of wrongful death victims may pursue. It is crucial to know that the types of damages that can be claimed vary depending on your state:
Economic Damages
Loss of wages and benefits
When a family breadwinner dies, survivors lose not only the future earnings but also the pensions and retirement benefits. Calculations factor in the decedent’s age, occupation, and work-life expectancy. A financial expert projects lost income streams, ensuring insurers account for potential career growth and inflation.
Medical expenses
Any medical costs incurred from injury to death, emergency care, surgeries, and hospital stays are recoverable. Detailed billing records and physician reports substantiate these claims, preventing insurers from disputing pre-death care costs.
Funeral and burial costs
These cover reasonable funeral, burial, or cremation expenses and constitute compensable losses. Pennsylvania caps certain costs under 42 Pa.C.S. Section 8301, but if charges exceed the cap, an attorney may argue for full reimbursement based on the actual bills.
Punitive damages
In rare cases where a defendant’s conduct was willful, malicious, or grossly negligent, such as drunk driving, courts may award punitive damages. These awards punish wrongdoing and deter similar behavior, supplementing compensation for families devastated by preventable tragedy.
Non-Economic Damages
Mental distress
Survivors endure profound psychological harm, depression, anxiety, and insomnia that go beyond financial loss. Courts recognize this mental distress as a standalone category, permitting awards that reflect the severity and duration of mental suffering.
Emotional suffering
The loss of companionship, guidance, and parental support constitutes emotional suffering. Children who lose a parent may struggle academically and socially, while spouses face marital grief. Non-economic awards help families heal by acknowledging intangible but tangible losses.
Loss of companionship
Witnessing a decedent’s final agony or decline can inflict deep emotional pain. Courts may consider testimony about the decedent’s suffering before death and survivors’ trauma from witnessing these events.
How Can a Personal Injury Lawyer Boost Your Wrongful Death Claim?
A lawyer gathers comprehensive evidence, including accident reports, medical records, and expert testimony, to establish liability and accurately quantify damages. For instance, in wrongful death claims related to truck accidents, they prepare detailed damage calculations, negotiate with insurers, and file wrongful death complaints within statutory deadlines (typically two years in Pennsylvania and New Jersey). If insurance companies undervalue your claim, your wrongful death attorney will escalate to mediation or trial, advocating for maximum awards that honor your loved one’s memory.
Your Trusted Legal Partner in Wrongful Death Claims
Wrongful death brings unimaginable loss, yet Pennsylvania and New Jersey laws provide avenues to recover economic and non-economic damages that validate your family’s grief. By documenting lost wages, medical bills, funeral costs, and emotional trauma, you secure the compensation your household needs to move forward.
The Sharma Law Office will help you pursue justice with compassion and tenacity. Contact us today to schedule your free initial consultation on your wrongful accident case claim.