A family’s rights in a wrongful death case involving children

Wrongful death cases can become tragic for the family of the person who has passed away. Though it is not possible to quantify the loss a family suffers when they lose a loved one, their death may bring about unexpected financial challenges. A wrongful death lawsuit, which is based on the tort law civil lawsuit being the equivalent of criminal charges, can lead to compensation for the family of the accident victim. Therefore, the judge may look into the valuation of the deceased person’s life along with the wrongful act of the defendant in order to help the family to find the correct figure for the wrongful death lawsuit.

An able-bodied person who was the sole breadwinner of the family before passing away due to the wrongful act or omission of the defendant can yield a substantial amount of compensation due to economic and non-economic damages that can be proved in court in a wrongful death lawsuit. On the other hand, finding the valuation of human life can become controversial in the event that the deceased person is a senior citizen who has retired or who is an infant.

If an infant dies due to a car accidents, birth injury or any other reason that can lead to a wrongful death lawsuit, the case will be evaluated essentially on the basis of the economic losses suffered that the parents have suffered. There are various factors that the court will examine, including the age of the child, health, earning potential of the child as well as the relationship between the deceased child and the claimant.

Thus, various considerations such as speculations and expected economic losses in the future, including where the child might have gone to college and whether that child would have become a high-earning member of society. The family, especially the parents, can also claim economic losses on the basis that the child would eventually support and take care of the parents.

Source: FindLaw.com, “Wrongful death cases: children and the elderly,” Accessed on Aug. 26, 2015