Philadelphia Wrongful Death Attorneys
A Wrongful Death claim can be made anytime a person dies as a result of another's negligence. Although a death can be cause by various types of incidents, there are some specific issues that are involved with this type of claim. At Rosenbaum & Associates we want to make sure that the family is compensated for all their losses, both emotional and financial. We understand that this is a difficult and emotional time. We want to protect your rights and make sure your family does not have to endure an additional hardship. We have successfully helped many families who have lost loved ones, and provided them with financial security.
What can my family recover?
Recovery for wrongful death is created by state statute. The purpose is to compensate the decedent's survivors for pecuniary loss
they have sustained as result of a family member's death. That is, loss suffered by the relatives as a result of the deprivation of the part of the earnings of the deceased that the relatives would have received from the deceased if he lived. This includes all monies that the decedent would have spent for, or given, to his or her family for such items as shelter, food, clothing, medical care, education, entertainment, gifts and recreation in addition, there is recovery for the value of the services, society and comfort that they would have given to the family had the lived, including work around the home; provision of physical comforts, services, and companionship.
Who can recover?
For purposes of determining whether parent or child can maintain an action under the Wrongful Death Act, a "family relation" exists between parent and child when the child receives from parent services, maintenance or gifts with such reasonable frequency as to lead to expectation of future enjoyment of these services, maintenance or gifts.
The Survival Action
In addition to claim under the wrongful Act there is a separate claim known as a survival action. In this claim there can be recovery for damages which the deceased could have sued for in his lifetime, this includes pain and suffering of the deceased prior to death, the cost of medical, nursing and hospital care, the gross loss of the deceased's earning power from the date of injury until death, and loss of earning power less personal maintenance expenses from the time of death through the remainder of the deceased's estimated life expectancy. Recovery is not permitted for loss of the enjoyment of life, or shortening of life expectancy.
Who is entitled to make a survival claim?
Survival action is an action belonging to the estate of the decedent for damages suffered by the decedent prior to his death or suffered by his estate. Therefore, the action is brought by a representative (administrator) of the estate. Damages recovered under a survival action belong to the estate, and are subject to estate and inheritance taxes and the claims of decedent's creditors, and pass according to the terms of the decedent's will, or according to the intestate laws if he died intestate (without a will).
Proving Damages
In a wrongful death action the plaintiff must prove the life expectancy of the decedent, the future earning power of the decedent, the probable cost of the personal maintenance of the decedent, and the amount that the decedent would have contributed to his beneficiaries.
Typically we use an expert, such as an economist or actuary, to analyze and calculate the overall damages, including past lost earnings from the date of death to the date of trial, reduced by the cost of the decedent's personal maintenance; future lost earning power from the date of trial for the remainder of the decedent's normal life expectancy, reduced by the decedent's personal maintenance; the value of the fringe benefits that the decedent would have received; and the value of the services that decedent would have performed for the benefit of his family.
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