Wrongful Death Settlement Calculator, with the same math attorneys use.

State law decides, and it varies more than most people expect. The claim commonly belongs to the surviving spouse, children, or parents, and some states extend it to other dependents or to the estate alone. In most places the personal representative of the estate files on behalf of everyone eligible, then any recovery is distributed under that state's rules. If you are unsure whether you have standing, that is one of the first questions worth asking an attorney.

Broadly, the survivors' losses rather than the decedent's. That means the present value of the financial support the family will not receive, lost household services, funeral and burial costs, medical expenses incurred before death, and non-economic damages such as loss of companionship, consortium, and a parent's guidance. Where a survival claim is also available, it can add the pain and suffering the decedent experienced between injury and death. Some states cap non-economic damages here, and 17 of the 51 jurisdictions in our data cap them in malpractice cases specifically.

With expert testimony, usually an economist and sometimes a vocational expert. They start from the decedent's earnings and career trajectory, project what would have been earned over a working life, subtract what would have been consumed personally, and reduce the result to present value. Employer benefits such as health insurance and retirement contributions are part of it, and so is the value of household work that now has to be paid for or absorbed.

Wrongful death deadlines generally run from the date of death rather than the date of the injury. Across the 51 jurisdictions in our state-law data they run from 1 to 3 years, and 32 of them use 2 years. Select your state in the calculator above for the one we hold. Some run much shorter where a government entity is involved, and at least one runs a peremptive period that is harder to extend than an ordinary statute. Evidence also goes stale quickly, so the practical deadline is usually earlier than the legal one.

A wrongful death claim belongs to the survivors and compensates their losses. A survival claim belongs to the estate and carries the claim the decedent would have had if they had lived, including the pain and suffering between injury and death. Not every state recognizes both, and where both exist the proceeds can be distributed differently, because one is paid to individuals and the other into the estate.

In some states and in some circumstances. Punitive damages are meant to punish conduct rather than compensate a loss, so they generally require something beyond ordinary negligence: impaired driving, intentional harm, or a defendant that knew about a danger and left it in place. They are not available everywhere, they are uncommon, and no estimate should be built on the assumption of them.

Under state law, and sometimes under the estate plan. The usual approach allocates among eligible beneficiaries based on relationship and financial dependency, which can mean a surviving spouse and minor children receive different shares. Where money is going to a minor, a structured settlement or a trust is often used so the funds are managed until adulthood. If both a wrongful death and a survival claim resolve together, the allocation between them matters, because they pay to different people.