Recoverable Damages for Wrongful Death in the States: A 2015 Review of Statutory Law

Statutory law of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands is examined regarding money damages recoverable under wrongful death actions. Categories of loss claims, limitations on recoverable damages, and the characteristics of award determination are recorded in a manner that mimics as closely as possible two previous published surveys with regard to the elements of wrongful death statutory law in 1995 and 2005, respectively. Unlike the previous two surveys, the present study relies exclusively on primary sources, namely the jurisdictional statutes themselves. The categorized results are presented by jurisdiction in a comprehensive tabular format. The text highlights certain prominent changes in statutory law arising during the decade ending mid-2015.