How Much Can A Family Be Compensated After Filing A Wrongful Death Action?

Injury Lawyer Personal Injury Faq's

For any family that mourns the untimely death of a loved one, no amount of money can dispel their grief. Still, the legal system acknowledges the fact that those same grieving family members may have suffered a financial loss, or the loss of expected benefits. For that reason, the court system has been designed to serve as a way by which such families can be compensated for a wrongful death. That is why it is important to talk with Personal Injury Lawyer in Oakville.

For what expenses do grieving families get compensated, when their grief has been caused by the untimely death of a loved one?

• Medical expenses: Money spent on care for the man or woman that was severely injured and is now deceased.
• Funeral expenses
• Loss of earnings, as calculated by the court
• Loss of benefits, which the family would have enjoyed if the deceased family member had not died so suddenly;
• Loss of inheritance: another damage to the family’s expectations, and one caused by the suddenness of the loved one’s passing;
• Loss of care, protection and companionship: A damage that pertains to a family member that was dependent on the services provided by the deceased.
• Pain and suffering
• Any of the above might be supplemented with money from punitive damages.

How does the court calculate the loss of earnings by members of a given family unit?

The court looks at how long the deceased loved one would have been working, if he or she had not died so suddenly. It estimates how long the deceased would have lived, if he or she had not been killed in a wrongful manner. The court studies the potential retirement benefits for the employed loved one, the benefits he or she would have received upon working the expected number of years, and receiving those benefits for the expected number of years.

The court’s findings and estimates allow it to determine the size of the annual payment that the plaintiff (the family) should receive. That payment assumes that the retirement benefits would have continued for 10 years, if the deceased loved one had not faced an untimely death.

In other words, the court determines the amount of money that the family should receive over a period of ten years. Then it determines the size for each payment in a series of payments. Over 10-year period, that series of payments should average out to equal the amount of money that the plaintiff/family deserved.

Why do courts take that approach?

Courts understand that a given amount of money today will be not have the same value ten years from now. That fact applies to the amount of money in any benefit. Hence, it becomes the court’s responsibility to maintain the true value of any awarded benefit.

28 thoughts to “How Much Can A Family Be Compensated After Filing A Wrongful Death Action?”

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