Wrongful Death Lawsuits: Understanding Loss of Companionship

Undefeated Wrongful Death Lawyers

If you’ve lost a loved one to another’s negligence, you’ve lost far more than the financial support they once provided your family. You’ve also been denied the love, affection, and comfort they brought to your lives.

Wrongful death laws across the country acknowledge this “loss of companionship” as a tangible harm that should be compensated. However, how much a survivor might deserve for loss of companionship will largely depend on their relationship to the deceased and the state where the deceased suffered a fatal injury.

Our Undefeated Wrongful Death Attorneys have won billions for clients in Texas and across the United States, including record-setting verdicts and settlements on behalf of families who lost loved ones due to another’s negligence:

Our resources, experience, and in-depth knowledge of the laws governing wrongful death, including the nuances unique to loss of companionship and other non-economic damages typical of these cases, consistently allow us to recover the maximum compensation possible for all of our clients’ injuries and losses.

Understanding Loss of Companionship in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

You really can’t place a dollar figure on grief. So for decades, most wrongful death laws only accounted for the deceased’s lost earning potential. Unfortunately, that line of thinking meant the surviving loved one of a minor child or a stay-at-home spouse would receive little to no compensation in a successful wrongful death lawsuit, since the deceased had no income.

That status quo started to change in the 1980s. During that decade, for example, a ruling by the Texas Supreme Court allowed families to sue for loss of companionship when their child’s death was the result of another’s negligence. Today, most states allow certain survivors—usually spouses, parents of minor children, and minor children who lost a parent—to seek compensation for loss of companionship when filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

What Loss of Companionship Covers

Loss of companionship is one of several non-economic damages usually asserted in a wrongful death lawsuit, along with damages for mental anguish, which accounts for the grief and emotional suffering plaintiffs have experienced due to their loved one’s passing.

When you claim loss of companionship in a wrongful death lawsuit, you’re actually seeking compensation for the loss of:

Shared time: The time you spent with your loved one in your daily life.
Guidance and mentorship: The guidance a parent provides to their children or the support one spouse offers the other through shared decision-making.
Affection and emotional support: The love and comfort the deceased once provided to those left behind.
Care and nurture: The deceased’s involvement in their family’s life and attention that no one else can provide.

Who Can Sue for Loss of Companionship

All 50 states strictly limit who can sue for wrongful death, including loss of companionship. Under the Texas Wrongful Death Law, for example, the right is limited to close relatives, including:

Spouses: Both legally married and common-law spouses
Children: Minor and adult children, whether biological or adopted
Parents: Both adoptive and biological parents, for both adult and minor children

There are some states that allow other relatives— step-parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, or grandparents—to sue for wrongful death. However, many jurisdictions require these plaintiffs to prove they were financially dependent on the deceased.

How Courts Value Loss of Companionship

In most states, the amount awarded for loss of companionship is generally left to the courts’ discretion. In our experience, the exact dollar figure largely depends on the available evidence and other factors, such as:

The closeness of the relationship
The role the deceased played in the claimant’s life.
The age and circumstances of the claimant
The expected duration of the relationship
The health and life expectancy of the deceased

The specific relationship between the deceased and a plaintiff is a major factor in deciding how much compensation should be awarded for loss of companionship. Our Texas wrongful death attorneys typically rely on testimony from friends, family, teachers, coaches, or coworkers to establish that relationship for the court. Photographs, letters, texts, and details of a family’s daily routine can also illustrate just how important a loved one’s contributions were to their survivors’ daily lives.

Wrongful Death Damages In Addition to Loss of Companionship

In addition to loss of companionship, most states allow wrongful death plaintiffs to pursue compensation for a range of other economic and non-economic damages, such as:

Lost earning capacity: The financial contribution of the deceased during their career, including future earnings and benefits.
Loss of household services: Compensation for contributions like caretaking and maintenance the deceased provided in the home.
Mental anguish: The emotional pain and suffering experienced by grieving survivors.
Loss of inheritance: What the deceased would have contributed to the estate had their life not been cut short.
Funeral and burial expenses
Exemplary or punitive damages: When appropriate, most states allow wrongful death plaintiffs to pursue additional compensation to punish defendants whose actions rise to the level of gross negligence or willful misconduct

In most states, including Texas, the estate itself can also file a survival action on a decedent’s behalf. Unlike a wrongful death lawsuit, which compensates surviving family members, these claims are intended to compensate the estate for the economic and non-economic losses the decedent incurred between the time of their injury and death, such as:

Conscious pain and mental anguish: The physical pain and emotional distress the victim endured before dying.
Medical expenses: Compensation for medical bills that accrued before they passed.
Lost income: The earnings they would have accrued between the time of their injury and their death.
Funeral and burial expenses: If not claimed by their family members in a wrongful death lawsuit
Exemplary/punitive damages: Again, if the defendant’s actions amounted to willful conduct or gross negligence

Generally, any compensation recovered in a survival action goes to the estate, and must first be used to pay any creditors or medical liens. Whatever remains is then divided among the decedent’s heirs according to their will. If they didn’t leave a will, the remaining proceeds are divided according to the governing state’s intestacy law.

FAQ: Loss of Companionship in Wrongful Death

What’s the difference between loss of companionship and loss of consortium?

While Texas courts use the terms interchangeably, other states limit recovery for loss of consortium damages to spousal relationships, while loss of companionship is specifically for a parent-child relationship.

Can I recover loss of companionship if a family member was injured but survived?

It depends on the nature of the relationship. In Texas, for example, a child can recover loss of companionship damages if a parent is catastrophically injured but survives. But a parent usually can’t recover these damages when a child is hurt, no matter how severely. A spouse can typically recover loss of consortium for their partner’s non-fatal injury in states that distinguish between the two.

What’s the deadline to file a wrongful death claim?

The deadline, or statute of limitations, varies from state to state. In Texas, for example, a wrongful death lawsuit must generally be filed no later than 2 years from the date of death, not the date of the accident or injury. However, medical malpractice claims alleging wrongful death must be filed within two years of the negligent treatment, even if the deceased passed months later from the resulting harm.

Can my family still recover damages if my loved one was partly at fault for the accident?

Most states have enacted comparative negligence laws that require financial recovery to be reduced by the deceased’s percentage of fault, up to a certain threshold. In Texas, for example, you can still recover loss of companionship and other wrongful death damages as long as the degree of fault doesn’t exceed 50 percent. If it does exceed that threshold, recovery is barred entirely.

Contact Our Undefeated Wrongful Death Lawyers at 1-888-603-3636 for a Free Consultation

Having won billions and successfully represented thousands of clients in connection with truck and 18-wheeler accidents, oilfield accidents, maritime and offshore accidents, and plant, pipeline and refinery explosions, our Undefeated Wrongful Death Lawyers understand the devastating emotional and financial toll such a loss takes on those left behind.

If you lost a loved one because of another’s negligence, we’re here for you. Call 1-888-603-3636 or send us a confidential email through our website to schedule a free consultation. We’ll answer your questions, explain all of your rights and options, and provide you with the information you need to determine the best path forward.

And because we only represent clients on a contingency-fee basis, so you won’t owe us a dime unless we win your case.