Wrongful Death Attorney in Los Angeles

What Damages are Available for a Wrongful Death Case?

While nothing can replace your loved one, financial recovery, also called damages, can help address the financial impact of your loss. According to California law, various surviving family members can recover damages after successfully winning a wrongful death case. However, the damages each party can recover vary depending on their personal and specific loss from the death. For example, the amount of damages a spouse may recover could be different than that of a stepchild.

For these reasons, it’s difficult to say exactly how much you can recover without understanding your full situation. It is highly recommended that you speak with an experienced wrongful death attorney to learn about the damages you can recover for your specific loss. California wrongful death law allows surviving family members to recover both economic and noneconomic losses. Common examples of damages a Los Angeles wrongful death attorney may help you recover include:

Economic Losses:

• Estimated amount of future earnings (including income and benefits)
• Reasonable funeral, burial, and cremation expenses
• Household services that would have been provided by the victim including cooking, cleaning, and childcare)
• Household financial support

Non-economic Losses:

• Loss of love, affection, emotional support, companionship, care and comfort, and assistance
• Loss of intimate relationship (if the victim was a spouse or domestic partner)
• Loss of guidance and training (if the victim was a parent or spouse)

Calculating Damages

Once your attorney has helped you identify the possible types of damages you may recover for your wrongful death case, the next step is to calculate the exact amount you are seeking.

Some damages are easier to calculate since they are easily quantifiable. For example, economic losses such as funeral or burial costs can be quantified with receipts or bills. Keep in mind that you will only get reimbursed for reasonable expenses.

This means that if you threw an extremely extravagant funeral and reception for your loved one, you may not receive reimbursement for the entire amount. It’s likely that you may only get reimbursed for a part of total expenses that was deemed reasonable.

On the other hand, calculating damages such as lost future earnings is more challenging. Various factors must be taken into consideration such as:

• The age of the victim and the amount of years they were expecting to work
• The skills, education, and abilities of the victim
• The victim’s potential for raises, promotions, or other financial earnings through the course of their career
• Retirement and benefits account contributions the victim would have received
• Inflation related to how wages and earnings would have been adjusted

Calculating the exact amount of damages is a complex process as it takes into account numerous factors. Seek the help of an experienced attorney who has the resources and skills who can accurately calculate the maximum damages you may possibly recover.

Damages Not Available in a Wrongful Death Claim

Certain damages cannot be recovered under a wrongful death claim since they have nothing to do with the losses of the surviving family members. In California, these losses may be recovered in a survival action claim. Losses in a survival action claim relate to the losses of the victim, between the time of the accident and the time of death.

Common examples of these types of losses include medical expenses prior to the victim’s death and pain and suffering. Punitive damages may also be recovered if the actions of the party at-fault were grossly negligent or intentional.