Anatomy of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

What Can Be "Put on the Board"?

In a wrongful death action, the recovery is for the damages suffered by the decedent's beneficiaries and not for the injuries to the decedent. Therefore, damages under the Wrongful Death Act are determined from the standpoint of the beneficiaries rather than from that of the decedent, and recovery cannot be obtained for injuries suffered solely by the decedent such as the decedent's pain and suffering.

The purpose of wrongful death damages is to compensate the spouse, children, or parents of a deceased person for the pecuniary loss they have sustained as a result of the death. Damages are measured by the pecuniary loss suffered by the named beneficiaries as a result of the death of the deceased. Pecuniary loss has been defined as the destruction of a reasonable expectation of pecuniary advantage from the deceased. The concept of what constitutes pecuniary loss has been stretched to include certain items of damages that are not truly pecuniary in nature.

In addition to damages based on the portion of the decedent's earning that would have gone for their benefit, the beneficiaries in a wrongful death action may also recover for certain other types of lost benefits, such as a spouse's loss of the decedent's services society and companionship, a parent's loss of the services of a child, and a minor child's loss of the guidance and nurture of a deceased parent.

In order to form a basis for damages in a wrongful death action gifts and services must have been rendered by the decedent with a frequency that would support the conclusion that they would have continued if it were not for the death, occasional gifts and services being insufficient for that purpose. The Wrongful Death Act itself also specifically provides for the recovery of medical expenses and funeral expenses, the cost of a tombstone, and the cost of administration of the estate.

[ Continue to Page 2 of 7 ]