Calculating Damages Following a DC Wrongful Death 

Age, education, salary are predominantly considered in calculating damages following a DC wrongful death. When calculating, several things will be looked at, such as how long the person is expected to live under life expectancy cables, how educated the person is, and what their current salary and job history looks like. If someone has an income that increases over time, the value of future income could go up. Whatever value is assessed or however many years is then reduced to present day value based on a calculation that needs to be determined by an economic expert. Contact a professional attorney for more information.

Who Calculates Loss of Income

A person needs to get an economist to calculate loss of income in a DC wrongful death case. A person has an expert economist that reviews the file or the tax returns, will look into how much money this person expected to make, what the growth rates are, and examines how inflation plays a part. Based on these factors, they will determine what the total value of the future lost wages are. Then, that value is reduced to present value and that is the number that they will submit to a jury.

Quantifying Loss of Future Incomes

The most significant element is the fact that a person can have two experts look at the same set of facts, the same tax returns, the same job history, the same education level, and they will come up with two very different numbers. It is important to work with an attorney that has experts that they work with on a regular basis. If they have a good relationship with the experts, the experts will take a close look and make sure that all their calculations are fair, reasonable, and appropriate under the circumstances. An error in an expert’s calculation of damages following a DC wrongful death case could cause a real detriment to the decedent survivors.

Calculating Loss of Companion

With calculating the loss of companion in a DC wrongful death case, a lot depends on what the family situation is like. If it is an individual with kids, a wife, and a big family, then the value of the services they provided to their spouse and family is significant. If there was an individual whose parents have passed away, they are the only child, and they were never married, there is limited value in terms of how much the case is actually worth to other survivors.

If it is a bigger family where there is a lot of people and their involvement is extensive, the statute does aim to avoid family fighting because there is a fixed allocation of income or distribution of proceeds from an award. They try to avoid the situation where the family all fights to see who can be the executor or representative of the estate so they can get more money. There is an economic value to whatever a person did for their family. Determining these non-economic factors into economic factors is very subjective.

Importance of Expert

The actual value of something subjective very difficult to monetize. It is hard to put a number on what that person brought to their loved ones. An expert can provide an objective basis for such a value. It is important to have an expert that can accurately and objectively quantify the value of such non-economic losses. If you have questions about experts or calculating damages following a DC wrongful death case, contact a legal representative today.

DC Wrongful Death Damages