Different Compensation You Get From A Wrongful Death Claim

When a person dies due to another party’s intentional harm or negligence, it is termed wrongful death. Wrongful death lawsuits help the victim’s surviving loved one seek compensation for medical expenses, funeral expenses, and damages from lost finances.

If someone died wrongfully and was previously injured in Cedar Rapids, contacting a personal injury lawyer is an important thing their family member should do. A person should have suffered damages due to the victim’s death in order to be eligible for a wrongful death claim. The person who files for wrongful death is known as “real parties in interest.”

Different compensation you get from a wrongful death claim.

Two broad categories fall under wrongful death, generally defined by two different time periods.

The first one includes the damages suffered by the deceased person while neglecting the act that caused the accident until the time of the victim’s death. For example, in a car accident case, it will cover the time from the occurrence of the accident until the victim dies from the injuries suffered. That can occur after a few hours, weeks, or even after a few months. The damages included in this category are the deceased person’s lost wages, mental and physical suffering, and funeral and burial expenses.

The second one includes damages that cover the losses experienced after the deceased person’s death. This category generally compensates the family survivors for the financial losses. This law indicates that compensation will be given to the value of money the deceased person would have earned if they were alive till retirement. The lost wages until the anticipated retirement will be given to the family members. 

Compensation for wrongful death can be divided into measurable and immeasurable damages.

• Measurable damages

Measurable damages are the financial losses related to the deceased person–financial damages and expenses that are easy to prove. It includes the following.

• Loss of dead person’s future income
• Loss of future inheritance
• Medical bills before death

Losses like medical bills and funeral expenses can easily be measured and proven. On the other hand, loss of future income takes some time to calculate.

• Immeasurable damages

Of course, money is not the first thing that comes before the grief of losing your loved one. Numerous immeasurable losses occur from someone’s death, primarily due to someone else’s negligence. It includes the following losses.

• Punitive damages
• Pain and suffering of the deceased
• Loss of guidance for the deceased person’s children
• Loss of spousal companionship