What types of money damages are allowed for wrongful death?
Four interrelated statutes govern calculation of recoverable damages when a person dies as a result of someone’s reckless or negligent actions. While none of the statutes can ever replace the husband or wife or child who was lost, a successful claim can help the survivors in many ways. Your attorney will coordinate the criminal prosecution of the party at fault and arrange for grief counseling. Of course, our most important form of support to grieving families is securing monetary compensation for their loss. Money cannot relieve the grief over the loss of a loved one, but it can help to relieve financial burdens. If the person who died was a minor (under 18) or a child on whom one or both parents were dependent for support, or a viable fetus, 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.” This broad language has been i
