Value of a Wrongful Death Claim

Answer:

We are often asked how we determine the value of a wrongful death case in Idaho. We represented some women whose mother passed away recently, and that was one of their questions: “How do we determine the value of this?” There are so many things that go into the answer of that question, and it’s difficult to answer fully. One issue is whether or not the person provide you with support. Did they pay you something every month or every year? Anything that they were providing to you as support – if it’s your dad, for example, and he was providing your tuition for college or dinner every night – all of those things are considered as the economic value that the person provided to you.

The other thing to consider is the loss of the relationship with this person. In Idaho, support, companionship, and relationship are allowed as damages, and that’s going to be different for every person. Someone who lives in Florida and only occasionally sees their father who lives in Idaho and is maybe estranged from him, will not have the same value on that relationship as someone whose father lived with them and supported them. The value of the relationship changes between each and every different client and each and every case. In the case referenced earlier, those four daughters had an incredibly close relationship with their mother. They didn’t all live near her, but it was an incredibly close relationship. In addition, she died in a car accident where the driver of the other car passed the center lane, went head on into her, and she died. In addition to the damages we’ve discussed – what was the support she provided; what was the value of the relationship she provided? – there was also a punitive damage aspect in that case. Punitive damages are to punish someone for when they have done something extremely reckless. In that case, we were able to make a good argument that the defendant’s actions were reckless and the women also deserved an award for punitive damages. If you have any questions about wrongful death and what the value of it is, please give our office a call because we’re willing to talk to you.