Cases Involving the Death of a Family Member

DEATH OF AN ADULT

The death of any human being is truly a tragedy. When that person is a family member, the person’s entire family is hurt. When the person who dies is the main breadwinner of the family, the family’s financial survival is often threatened. If an adult dies due to the fault of another person or corporation, the surviving spouse and children may be legally entitled to recover the following types of damages:

a. Pecuniary loss.
"Pecuniary loss’ means the loss of care, maintenance, support, services, advice, counsel, and reasonable contributions of a pecuniary value, excluding loss of inheritance, that the surviving spouse and children, in reasonable probability, would have received from the deceased person had he or she lived.

b. Loss of companionship and society.
"Loss of companionship and society" means the loss of the positive benefits flowing from the love, comfort, companionship, and society that the surviving spouse and children, in reasonable probability, would have received from the deceased person had he or she lived. c. Mental anguish.
"Mental anguish" means the emotional pain, torment, and suffering experienced by the surviving spouse and children because of the death of the deceased person.

d. Loss of inheritance.
"Loss of inheritance" means the loss of the present value of the assets that the deceased person, in reasonable probability, would have added to the estate and left at natural death to the surviving spouse and children of the deceased person.

Death of a Child

The death of a child is the most painful experience any parent could ever endure, even when the "child" is a grown man or woman. Human law is powerless to reduce the pain of such a loss. Our system of "justice" is limited to monetary compensation and the hope that requiring the person or corporation at fault for causing the death of a child to pay money damages will prevent similar conduct by others in the future and will result in saving young lives.

Texas law provides for recovery of the following types of monetary damages to the parents of a child:

a. Pecuniary loss.
"Pecuniary loss’ means the loss of care, maintenance, support, services, advice, counsel, and reasonable contributions of a pecuniary value that the surviving parents, in reasonable probability, would have received from the deceased child had he or she lived.

b. Loss of companionship and society.
"Loss of companionship and society" means the loss of the positive benefits flowing from the love, comfort, companionship, and society that the surviving parents, in reasonable probability, would have received from the deceased child had he or she lived.

c. Mental anguish.
"Mental anguish" means the emotional pain, torment, and suffering experienced by the surviving parents because of the death of their child.

Cases involving the death of a family member are extremely serious and potentially involve jury verdicts of millions of dollars. If you are unfortunate enough to have such a case, you should entrust it to a specialist in Personal Injury Trial Law who is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. DON’T BE A VICTIM TWICE! Always ask if the lawyer is Board Certified. Always verify the lawyer’s name for Board Certification at www.tbls.org.