California Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
In California, the recoverable damages for a wrongful death claim generally include:
- Financial support the heirs would have received.
- Loss of household services.
- Funeral and burial expenses (if paid by an heir).
- Loss of the decedent’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, and, for children, training and guidance.
The highest-valued California wrongful death cases often involve:
- A young wage earner with a substantial income and career trajectory.
- A surviving spouse.
- Minor children.
- Strong evidence of a close family relationship.
- Clear liability.
- Significant insurance or corporate defendants.
- No comparative negligence.
From a settlement perspective, the three factors that tend to have the greatest impact are: (1) liability, (2) available insurance or other collectible assets, and (3) the combination of the decedent’s economic contributions and the strength of the family’s noneconomic loss evidence. Even a case with very large damages may settle for less if liability is disputed or insurance coverage is limited. Conversely, a case with modest economic losses can still result in a substantial recovery if there is compelling evidence of the loss of a close parent-child or spousal relationship.
For example, if there is a car accident resulting in the death of an occupant of one of the cars, the wrongful death damages would generally be limited to the insurance coverage for the other party that caused the collision, plus any underinsured motorist coverage that is available.
If one of the vehicles was driven by a rideshare company, such as Uber, Lyft, Waymo, etc., there may be more insurance available than if it is just a private party. Also, it is necessary to determine if the responsible party was in the course and scope of employment at the time of the collision, which could lead to significantly more insurance coverage available for the heirs of the victim.
An experienced California wrongful death law firm needs to evaluate all of these things, including who owns the vehicle and whether there is any government liability that contributed to causing the accident. If there is government liability, the available wrongful death damages could be in the multi millions of dollars, but it is necessary to call an attorney right away as there are shorter time limits to make the claim, or the claim may be lost. We are experienced with all types of wrongful death scenarios and we are prepare to help the families of wrongful death victims, starting with a free consultation.