In any personal injury lawsuit in Georgia, including a wrongful death case, a defendant’s liability is expressed in terms of financial compensation, also known as damages. In a successful wrongful death case, the courts will order the defendant(s) to pay damages to a deceased individual’s survivors, beneficiaries or the estate. This financial compensation is meant to make it easier for a family to pay for related losses and move forward with greater financial security.
Examples of compensatory damages that may be available in a wrongful death case in Georgia are:
Medical expenses related to the decedent's final injury or illness
Reasonable funeral and burial expenses
Other necessary costs related to the death
Lost wages and employment benefits – both existing and what the decedent reasonably would have earned in the future had he or she lived
Loss of the loved one’s care, guidance, and companionship
A wrongful death claim may also result in punitive damages. Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages are not intended to make survivors whole again but to punish the defendant for, especially wrongful or egregious acts instead. Punitive damages may arise in wrongful death cases due to the fact that the defendant's actions resulted in death. A judge may award punitive damages to teach the defendant a lesson and to set a precedent for others in the community.
If damages are awarded in a wrongful death case in Georgia, they may go to both the deceased person’s surviving loved ones and the estate. Your family may receive financial compensation for the full value of your loved one’s life, including economic and non-economic damages. Surviving loved ones will share a settlement or jury verdict based on the decedent's will or Georgia's laws of intestate succession.