Texas law provides a framework for acknowledging the full scope of what your family has lost. The calculation of a wrongful death settlement value isn’t just about lost income; it’s a structured attempt to recognize the loss of companionship, guidance, and love.
An experienced wrongful death attorney gathers the details of your loved one’s life to build a comprehensive case that secures your family’s future.
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Key Takeaways for Wrongful Death Settlement Value
- Texas law clearly defines who can file a wrongful death claim, allowing specific family members, such as a surviving spouse, children, and parents, to take legal action.
- Damages in these cases fall into two primary categories: economic damages for financial losses and non-economic damages for personal, emotional losses.
- A separate but related legal action, called a survival action, can seek compensation for the deceased's conscious pain and suffering before their death.
- Factors like the deceased's age, earning capacity, and the circumstances of their death all play a significant role in calculating wrongful death damages.
- Policy limits of the at-fault party often limit what an insurance company will pay and can place a ceiling on the amount of compensation a family can ultimately recover.
The Two Pillars of a Texas Wrongful Death Claim
Texas categorizes the damages in a wrongful death case into two distinct types. One category addresses the direct financial impact on the family, while the other addresses the immense emotional and relational losses.
A thorough claim pursues compensation for both forms of damages to reflect the total impact of the loss.
Calculating Economic Damages
Economic damages, also known as pecuniary loss, represent the tangible financial contributions the deceased would have provided to the family. Attorneys work with financial professionals to project these contributions over the deceased's expected lifetime.
This process involves a detailed analysis of their financial history and future potential. To establish this part of the claim's value, your legal team gathers specific documentation.
Pay stubs, tax returns, and employment records demonstrate past earnings. These documents form the foundation for projecting a lifetime of lost income. Beyond lost wages, pecuniary loss includes the value of lost benefits like health insurance and retirement contributions.
It also accounts for the loss of a potential inheritance—the amount the deceased likely would have saved and passed on to their heirs.
The calculation even covers the monetary value of lost household services, such as childcare, home maintenance, and financial management, that the family must now pay for.
Valuing Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages address losses that lack a simple price tag but are profoundly significant. These damages compensate for the loss of the human relationship and the emotional fallout of the death; the jury must assign a monetary value to the love, care, and companionship the family lost.
One of the most significant elements is the loss of companionship. This element focuses on the positive benefits of the family relationship that are now gone. Your attorney presents evidence of the relationship's quality to show the depth of your loss.
Attorneys use personal stories, photographs, and testimony from friends and family to paint a picture of the deceased's role in your life. This evidence helps a jury appreciate the true impact of their absence.
Common non-economic damages include:
- Mental Anguish: This addresses the emotional pain and grief experienced by the surviving family members.
- Loss of Companionship and Society: This compensates for the loss of the deceased’s presence, love, and comfort in your life.
- Loss of Consortium: This applies specifically to a surviving spouse and concerns the loss of intimacy and affection in the marital relationship.
- Loss of Guidance and Counsel: Surviving children can seek compensation for the loss of their parent’s guidance and mentorship throughout their lives.
A wrongful death claim in Texas recognizes that these personal losses are just as real as any financial harm. A strong case effectively communicates the depth of these human losses.
Demonstrating this aspect of a wrongful death settlement value requires a sensitive and detailed approach.
Eligible Parties for a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas
The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code explicitly names who can file a wrongful death lawsuit. State law grants this right to a very specific group of immediate family members. A person may file individually or as a group with other eligible family members.
These are the parties with legal standing:
- Surviving Spouse: The legal spouse of the deceased person can file a claim.
- Children: All of the deceased's children, including biological and legally adopted children, have the right to bring a lawsuit.
- Parents: The deceased’s parents, whether biological or adoptive, are also eligible to file a wrongful death action.
Siblings, however, cannot file a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas, no matter how close their relationship was. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives also lack the legal standing to bring a claim.
If none of the eligible family members file a claim within three months of the person's death, the personal representative or executor of the deceased's estate can then file the claim. This provision exists unless all the entitled family members specifically request that a lawsuit not be filed.
The legal system sets these strict rules to keep the process orderly and directed.
The Survival Action: A Separate but Related Claim
While a wrongful death action compensates the family for their own losses, a survival action addresses the losses suffered by the deceased person before they passed away. Texas allows the deceased's estate to pursue the personal injury claim that the individual could have brought if they had survived the incident.
The personal representative of the estate typically files the survival action, and any damages recovered in a survival action are distributed to the estate's heirs according to the will or state law. This action operates separately but concurrently with the wrongful death claim.
Damages in a Survival Claim
A survival action allows the estate to recover damages the deceased accrued between the moment of injury and their death. This can be a crucial part of obtaining a fair recovery, especially if there was a significant period between the two events.
A lawyer investigates the circumstances to determine what the deceased experienced.
The damages pursued in a survival action include the following:
- Medical Expenses: All costs for medical care from the time of the injury until death can be included in the claim.
- Lost Wages: The claim may include any income the deceased lost between the date of their injury and their passing.
- Physical Pain: The estate can recover compensation for the conscious physical pain the deceased endured before death.
- Mental Anguish: This element covers the conscious emotional suffering and fear the deceased experienced as a result of their injuries.
Proving conscious pain and suffering often requires evidence from medical records, testimony from emergency responders, and witness accounts. The strength of this evidence directly influences the potential compensation from a survival action.
This adds another layer to the overall wrongful death settlement value for families in Texas.
Factors That Influence a Wrongful Death Settlement Value
No two wrongful death cases are identical. Several key factors can significantly impact the final value of a wrongful death settlement. A legal team analyzes these elements to build a comprehensive picture of the case's potential worth.
Liability and Evidence
The clarity of fault is a primary driver of settlement value. When evidence strongly shows that one party was entirely responsible for the death, the claim has a stronger foundation. An insurer may be more willing to offer a reasonable settlement to avoid a trial where a jury may assign significant blame.
Evidence like police reports, witness statements, and video footage helps establish liability. In cases stemming from a car wreck, for example, traffic camera footage or testimony from other drivers can clarify events.
For medical malpractice cases, the medical records and testimony from other medical professionals document any substandard care that led to the death.
The Deceased's Life and Contributions
The personal circumstances of the deceased heavily influence both economic and non-economic damages. Juries and insurance companies consider these factors when calculating wrongful death damages.
A strong case presents a complete portrait of the individual's life and their role within the family and community.
An Individual’s Personal Attributes
A lawyer presents evidence that details the human side of the loss. Items they might consider include:
- Age and Health: The deceased's age and overall health before the fatal incident help determine their life and work-life expectancy for purposes of calculating future lost income.
- Earning Capacity: A person with a high income, a stable job, and potential for advancement will have a higher calculated economic loss than someone with lower earnings.
- Education and Training: The deceased’s educational background and specialized skills also factor into their projected future earnings and contributions.
- Family Relationships: Evidence demonstrating a close, loving, and supportive family dynamic can increase the value of non-economic damages like loss of companionship.
These details help humanize the deceased and demonstrate the full scope of what the family has lost. A thorough investigation uncovers the details that tell the person’s story in a compelling and respectful manner.
The goal is to provide a complete picture that justifies the sought-after wrongful death settlement value.
Insurance Policy Limits
In most cases, the at-fault party’s insurance policy provides the funds for a settlement. The limits of that insurance policy often act as a practical cap on the amount a family can recover. A defendant with a minimum liability policy may not have the personal assets to cover a judgment that exceeds their coverage.
An attorney will immediately work to identify all available insurance policies, which can sometimes include commercial policies, umbrella policies, or coverage from multiple at-fault parties. Finding all potential sources of recovery is a critical step in maximizing the potential compensation for a family.
How a Texas Wrongful Death Lawyer Can Help Your Family
Pursuing a wrongful death claim involves many complex legal and financial steps at a time when a family is coping with immense grief. This is one way an attorney can help after a loved one’s death, by taking on the burden of building the case and providing the resources, knowledge, and experience needed to pursue a fair outcome.
A lawyer handles all aspects of the claim so you can focus on your family.
Here’s how a Texas wrongful death lawyer can help:
- The Investigation: Lawyers immediately begin gathering evidence, identifying all potentially at-fault parties, and documenting the full circumstances of the death.
- Managing Communication: Your attorney handles all communication with insurance adjusters and opposing counsel, protecting you from direct questioning and pressure tactics.
- Retaining Financial Professionals: Legal teams often collaborate with outside experts, such as economists, to create detailed reports that accurately project a lifetime of financial losses.
- Negotiating a Settlement: An experienced lawyer uses the evidence they have gathered to argue for a complete and fair settlement that addresses the full scope of your damages.
FAQ for Wrongful Death Settlement Value
What Evidence Is Needed To Prove a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?
To prove a wrongful death claim in Texas, you generally must present evidence demonstrating that the defendant's negligent or wrongful act caused your loved one's death. This often includes accident reports, witness testimony, medical records, and expert analysis.
You also need to provide proof of your damages, such as the deceased's income records and evidence of your family relationships.
How Does a Jury Determine a Wrongful Death Settlement Award?
A jury considers a wide range of evidence to determine a fair wrongful death damages award. For economic damages, they may review financial records and professional projections of lost income and services.
For non-economic damages, they listen to testimony about the nature of your relationship with the deceased and assess the emotional impact, using their judgment to assign a monetary figure to those losses.
Does Texas Cap Wrongful Death Damages?
In most wrongful death cases, such as those arising from car accidents or unsafe premises, Texas doesn’t place a cap on economic or non-economic damages. The one major exception involves medical malpractice claims.
Texas law places a cap on non-economic damages that a family can recover from doctors or hospitals in a medical negligence case. Caps can also apply in claims against government entities.
Who Receives the Compensation From a Wrongful Death Settlement in Texas?
In a wrongful death claim, the compensation is distributed directly to the eligible surviving family members, regardless of who filed the lawsuit. The funds are typically allocated among the family members based on their individual losses.
For a survival action, any damages recovered go to the deceased's estate and are then distributed to heirs according to the will or state law.
Can a Wrongful Death Settlement Include Future Lost Earnings?
Yes, a significant part of the economic damages in a wrongful death settlement is the loss of the deceased's future earning capacity. Financial professionals calculate this by projecting what the person would have reasonably earned over the remainder of their career.
This calculation considers factors like age, occupation, skills, and potential for raises or promotions.
Protecting Your Family’s Future
The attorneys at Cowen | Rodriguez | Peacock approach each wrongful death case with compassion and a commitment to telling your loved one's story. Contact our legal team today by filling out our online form to discuss your case.