Florida Wrongful Death Act

As you can imagine, there are many questions when families come to me after the tragic death of a loved one. Wrongful death cases are usually very complex, leaving family members confused during a time that is already difficult to understand.

One of the biggest issues in Florida wrongful death cases is the recovery of economic damages. Examples of such include lost earnings, support, services and medical and funeral expenses. Loss of earnings can be recovered in two ways: lost net accumulations to the decedent’s estate and lost support to the decedent’s survivors. Lost net accumulations are the portion of earnings that would have been saved and retained by the estate by the end of the decedent’s life. Juries look at many factors in calculating lost net accumulations. These include the decedent’s skills, age, health, earnings and propensity to save. Recovery for lost earning capacity—the ability to earn—allows the jury to look at the decedent’s past earnings, education and skills. Juries use them factors to calculate the total amount of future wages the survivors lost due to the death of their loved one.

If you have suffered the loss of a loved one due to the negligence of another person or corporation, please call me at 813-305-7285 or email me at [email protected]. I will be happy to answer any questions you have at no charge.