Wrongful Death Action Settlements Varied

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by: adviatech
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If the sudden death that has touched your life in a painful way is the result of someone else's negligence, by all means speak to a qualified attorney immediately. Even if the death is the result of a faulty product, murder, the result of an accident on unsafe property or neglect by health care providers, you must make yourself aware of what your legal rights are.

Every state has a wrongful death statute and many of them have their own unique quirks. However they all reflect similar basic principles. A wrongful death claim usually has four parts to it: that the death was caused by the conduct of a defendant, that the defendant was negligent or liable for the death, that there is a surviving spouse and other dependents and monetary damages have arisen as a result of the death.

In Georgia, juries award damages for wrongful death on the full value of the life lost from the point of view of the deceased person. That means awards typically include economic damages and intangible factors. Intangibles usually mean things such as enjoyment of living, while economic damages would cover things like value of services and projected lifetime income.

Full value of life is often difficult to determine and most often the services of an economist are required to do this type of projection. Ultimately the jury award will be the result of its jurors voting their conscience. There is no statutory formula or limit on damages awarded in a wrongful death suit in Georgia.

What does tend to happen is juries will often allocate more value to a life when the money is to suppost a surviving spouse and minor children. In this instance, the value of the life award may be reduced to present value under Georgia's wrongful death law. This reduction does not affect the intangible aspects of the value of the life in question.

About the Author

Robert Webb is an Atlanta personal injury lawyer with Webb & D’Orazio, a law firm specializing in Atlanta personal injury, malpractice, criminal defense, and business law. Learn more at Webbdorazio.com.