When an earning adult passes away, it’s relatively straightforward to assess the financial loss. However, wrongful death loss is not only measured by financial earnings, but also include potential elements of an adult relationship such as childbearing services, nurturing, companionship and love. Contrarily, when a child wrongfully dies, the parents’ recovery capacity is restricted only to their financial loss, which is typically minimal.
Financial losses due to the death of a child are established by the following:
- Age, sex, life expectancy, work expectancy, health status and habits
- Earning potential
- Relationship of the decedent to those claiming a pecuniary loss
- Age, health and circumstances of those claiming pecuniary losses
The younger the child when they passed away, the more difficult it can be adequately determine these assessments. Juries generally use work-life expectancy tables, which is used in forensic economics to measure the years which people perform the non-market work of taking care of their families and homes, to start their calculations. However, in most instances, courts award comparatively small damages for a child’s death.
Additionally, a wrongful death claim could be asserted for a stillborn viable fetus, since Arizona still considers an unborn child a “person.” In any case, it’s imperative to seek legal representation from a Phoenix wrongful death attorney with experience in these matters.
Attorney Pastor and the firm of Montoya, Lucero & Pastor, PA can provide legal counsel and representation if your loved one was wrongfully killed by another’s negligence or malice. Contact us to schedule a free case evalutation today.