What is a human life worth? The philosophical answer, echoed in literature throughout the ages, is that life is priceless. The legal answer is much more complicated and frustrating.
Sacramento wrongful death lawyers will all agree that cases involving death are the most stressful cases to handle. Families go from having to adjust to the loss and absence of a loved one to being expected to assign and accept a monetary value for their loss. This is where a good wrongful death attorney can step in and take the pressure off of the family, and give them a tremendous amount of guidance, support, and advocacy where needed.
In California, you are entitled to assert claims for both the economical loss and non-economical loss caused by a wrongful death. What is classified as economical loss and non-economic loss can sometimes become blurred by juries.
Economical Loss
Economical damages are things that theoretically can have an objective dollar value attributed, such as the financial support that the loved one would have contributed to the family during the life expectancy, as well as the loss of gifts or benefits that the family would have anticipated receiving from the deceased. In addition to those items, other economic damages include the reasonable value of household services they would have provided, and out-of-pocket expenses such as funeral and burial expenses.
Non-Economical Loss
In addition to economic losses, a skilled wrongful death lawyer will also guide his/her clients in seeking to recover for the non-economical damages. Many people assume these damages include pain and suffering of the decedent or the family members. Unfortunately that assumption is incorrect as California Law expressly prohibits recovering for those types of damages in a wrongful death action. Unfortunately, California Law does not permit the recovery of grief or sorrow either.
However, non-economical damages can include things that have a similar look and feel to pain and suffering, such as: the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, training, and guidance. Consequently, while you cannot technically recover pain and suffering in a wrongful death action, a skilled wrongful death attorney can recover many of the same items that give rise to pain and suffering.
Calculating the Damages
There is no fixed standard for calculating or deciding the amount of non-economical damages. This becomes an area where a good wrongful death attorney can provide the most value to their client.
Wrongful death actions by their nature are serious and should be handled with care. In helping the jury compute the appropriate amount of damages, a wrongful death attorney will include testimony as to not only the relationship between the decedent and the family, but also to the decedent’s life expectancy, their health, habits, lifestyle, activities, and even occupation.
When selecting a wrongful death attorney to handle your case, be sure to choose one who you believe will personally be working on your file, and not just assigning it to staff members. A good wrongful death attorney gets to know all of the small details of how a decedent’s family has been impacted and presents those matters in a respectable and thorough manner.
If you believe you have a wrongful death case, please call Kyle K. Tambornini, an experienced wrongful death attorney, to discuss your case.
