What Types of Damages Can You Claim in a Washington Wrongful Death and Survival Action Case?

When someone else’s wrongful actions caused the death of your loved one, your family may be entitled to financial compensation. The wrongful death and survival action lawyers at Schauermann Thayer can fight for your family and help navigate the legal process.

A wrongful death claim is a mechanism by which a deceased person’s family may be compensated for the family’s losses. A survival action compensates the estate of your loved one for the losses they suffered in connection with their death. Wrongful death and survival action cases can encompass both actual financial losses and other non-financial impacts that your family may suffer when you lose a loved one. These include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, funeral costs, and damages related to the loss of love, affection, guidance, and support of your family member.

Medical Expenses, Funeral Expenses, and Lost Wages

If your loved one received medical care, treatment, or services related to and up to the time of their death, you may be able to pursue those expenses as part of a survival action. Similarly, damages associated with burial and funeral expenses are compensable, as well as damages for the pain, suffering, anxiety, emotional distress, humiliation, and fear your loved one may have experienced prior to his or her death.

Your loved one may have had a role as a provider in the family. You may be entitled to recover compensation for the wages that they would have earned had they lived and continued to work for the rest of their career. In determining this amount, your family member’s age, health, life expectancy, and occupation must be considered.

Loss of Love, Guidance, and Support

No matter the age of the person who died, wrongful death beneficiaries are entitled to seek compensation for the loss of the loving relationship of their family member. Many factors play a role in these types of damages, including the following:

• The loss of company, cooperation, and aid of a spouse or domestic partner
• The loss of emotional support, love, affection, care, services, companionship, and assistance of a spouse or domestic partner
• The loss of love, care, companionship, and guidance of a parent or sibling

An analysis of these damages requires consideration of the deceased person’s age, health, life expectancy, and occupation, among other things.

Emotional Distress

It is undeniably traumatic when you suddenly and tragically lose a loved one to someone else’s wrongful actions. The affected family members may go through their own grief and trauma because of the sudden nature of the loss. If you are a parent who has lost a child, you may be entitled to bring an action for the destruction of the parent-child relationship, which includes your own grief, mental anguish, and suffering due to the loss of your child.

Contact a Vancouver Wrongful Death Law Firm Today

Learn more about your legal rights and whether your family may be eligible for financial compensation by speaking with the wrongful death attorneys at Schauermann Thayer. You can talk to one of our lawyers in a free initial consultation by calling us at (360) 818-2725.