Damages recoverable in wrongful death.

Benchmark table

Survival damages (to the estate)

• Pre-death pain and suffering. Compensates the decedent for conscious suffering between injury and death. Cases with prolonged pre-death suffering (severe burns, drowning, post-crash survival before fatal complications) value higher.
• Lost wages from injury to death. Income the decedent would have earned during the survival period.
• Pre-death medical expenses. Charges incurred between injury and death.
• Loss of life's enjoyment (hedonic damages). Recognized in some states.

Wrongful-death damages (to beneficiaries)

• Lost financial support. Present value of the financial contributions the decedent would have made to dependents over their working life. Economists typically prepare this calculation using the decedent's earnings, consumption rate, work-life expectancy, and discount rate.
• Lost services and household contributions. Value of household labor, childcare, eldercare, and other services the decedent provided.
• Loss of companionship, society, and consortium. Non-economic loss of the relationship.
• Loss of guidance and parental services. Compensable to minor children in most states.
• Funeral and burial expenses. Generally capped at actual cost (NFDA reports median funeral cost near $8,000–$10,000).
• Survivors' grief and emotional distress. Allowed in some states (e.g., Florida); excluded in many.

State damage caps

Caps vary widely. Many states cap non-economic wrongful-death damages: Maryland ($875k for wrongful death of one beneficiary, $1.1M for two or more, indexed); Tennessee ($750k, $1M for catastrophic); Texas (the med-mal cap applies in med-mal wrongful death). Some states cap by statute, others by judicial decision. Federal Tort Claims Act wrongful-death cases are subject to no FTCA-specific cap but yield no punitives.

Punitive damages

About 35 states permit punitive damages in wrongful death. Requirements typically include clear-and-convincing evidence of malice, recklessness, or gross negligence. State caps on punitives (commonly 2–9x compensatory) apply where permitted. States that exclude punitive damages in wrongful death include Massachusetts (limited), New Hampshire, and a few others.

Collateral source rule

Life insurance proceeds, Social Security survivor benefits, and other collateral sources generally do not reduce wrongful-death damages under the common-law collateral source rule. Many states have modified this by statute, particularly in medical malpractice cases; check the relevant state law.