When a family loses someone to another party’s negligence, the legal process can feel like an unwelcome intrusion on top of an already unbearable loss. Still, understanding how California calculates the value of a wrongful death claim can help families make informed decisions during an incredibly difficult time.
What Determines the Value of Your Claim
California actually recognizes two related but distinct legal actions after a fatal accident: a wrongful death claim, brought by surviving family members for their own losses, and a survival action, brought on behalf of the deceased’s estate for damages the person could have claimed had they survived, such as pre-death pain and suffering or medical bills incurred before passing. Together, these can meaningfully increase the total value of a case beyond what a wrongful death claim alone would recover. Eligible survivors, typically a spouse, domestic partner, or children, can seek both economic losses, like lost future income and benefits, and non-economic losses, like the loss of companionship, guidance, and support the deceased would have provided.
Other Factors That Can Move the Number
Valuing lost future income in a wrongful death case usually requires expert testimony from an economist who can project career earnings, benefits, and even retirement contributions the deceased likely would have accumulated over a normal working life. For families with young children, courts often place significant value on the loss of a parent’s day-to-day guidance and care, which is treated as a real, compensable loss under California law, not merely a symbolic one. It’s also worth noting that wrongful death claims are subject to their own filing deadlines, generally two years from the date of death, which is separate from deadlines that may apply to the underlying accident itself.
Conclusion
Because wrongful death cases combine hard financial calculations with deeply personal losses, families are often better served by a careful, itemized review than by accepting an early settlement number. Speaking with a wrongful death lawyer in Newport Beach costs nothing and can give you real clarity on what your case may be worth, so you can focus on healing while someone else fights for what you’re owed.