What Damages Can a Vancouver Wrongful Death Attorney Collect in My Case?
If you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of a company or private party, a Vancouver wrongful death attorney can help you recover appropriate compensation. Traditionally, wrongful death lawsuits are filed by the estate and surviving family members. As a survivor, you can request damages that are available in personal injury lawsuits, but you are also permitted to recover non-economic damages that aren’t available to other injury victims. Depending on the circumstances, your Vancouver wrongful death attorney may request a variety of damages that are intended to help you and your family recover from your financial and emotional losses.
Economic Damages
Regardless of the circumstances, all survivors can request economic damages to cover their losses as well as losses that were incurred by their loved ones. You can request compensation for medical expenses, property damage, lost wages, funeral expenses, and other costs that were directly related to the accident. Economic damages are also available to the surviving family members, including parents, the decedent’s spouse and any surviving children. In addition to being deprived of an important family member, the survivors usually suffer from some financial losses. In these cases, you might be reimbursed for future earnings that the decedent would have made until his or her expected retirement. Even if the decedent did not have a paying job, childcare, cooking and cleaning have significant economic value, especially if a family is forced to pay for these services.
Non-Economic Damages
No amount of money can make your family whole again, but non-economic damages can provide some compensation for your emotional losses. These damages can be recovered on behalf of your loved one or on behalf of yourself and your family. Non-economic damages compensate you for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium and other losses that cannot be quantified in dollars. These damages also cover loss of companionship, loss of enjoyment of life and deprivation of parental guidance and support.
Special Damages
Some wrongful death lawsuits include survival action counts that are filed on behalf of a loved one. Survival action is basically a personal injury claim that’s filed or continued after death. This count can include a request for monetary and non-monetary damages that were sustained by your loved one between the time of the accident and the time of death. Survival action claims usually include damages for medical expenses and financial losses. You may also recover non-economic damages for pain, suffering, fear of impending death and other traumatic events that occurred when a loved one suffered for a prolonged period or was hospitalized for fatal injuries.
How Damages Are Assessed
Economic damages are determined by calculating actual financial losses, including medical expenses and past and future lost wages. Your wrongful death lawyer can calculate these amounts by reviewing hospital bills and determining how much your loved one would have earned or contributed to your family in the years leading up to retirement. This amount can be significant if your spouse was preparing for a promotion, applied for regular raises or received cost of living adjustments.
Contact a Vancouver Wrongful Death Lawyer
These are just a few of the damages that are available to surviving family members depending on the particulars of the situation. To learn more, contact Etengoff Pak Law Group at 360-693-2919 to discuss your case with an experienced Vancouver wrongful death lawyer.
