V.I. Code tit. 5, § 76 (2019)
2019 US Virgin Islands Code|Title 5 - Judicial Procedure|Subtitle 1 - Civil Procedure|Part I - General Provisions; Procedure Before Trial|Chapter 5 - Parties|§ 76. Action for wrongful death

 Legislative intent  (a) It is the public policy of the Territory to shift the losses resulting when wrongful death occurs from the survivors of the decedent to the wrongdoer. Subsections (b) through (j) of this section are remedial and shall be liberally construed. Definitions  (b) As used in this section: (1) “Survivors” means the decedent's spouse, children, parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive brothers and sisters. It includes the illegitimate child of a mother, but not the illegitimate child of the father unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the child's support. (2) “Minor children” means unmarried children under eighteen (18) years of age. (3) “Support” includes contributions in kind as well as money. (4) “Services” means tasks, usually of a household nature, regularly performed by the decedent that will be a necessary expense to the survivors of the decedent. These services may vary according to the identity of the decedent and survivor and shall be determined under the particular facts of each case. (5) “Net accumulations” means the part of the decedent's expected net business or salary income, including pension benefits, that the decedent probably would have retained as savings and left as part of his estate if he had lived his normal life expectancy. Net business or salary income is the part of the decedent's probable gross income after taxes, excluding income from investments continuing beyond death, that remains after deducting the decedent's personal expenses and support of survivors excluding contribution in kind. Right of action  (c) When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of any person, including those occurring on navigable waters, and the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person or water-craft that would have been liable in damages if death had not ensued shall be liable for damages as specified in this section notwithstanding the death of the person injured, although death was caused under circumstances constituting a felony. Parties  (d) The action shall be brought by the decedent's personal representative, who shall recover for the benefit of the decedent's survivors and estate all damages, as specified in this section, caused by the injury resulting in death. When a personal injury to the decedent results in his death, any action for the personal injury shall survive, whether or not filed at the time of death, and shall not abate. The wrongdoer's personal representative shall be the defendant if the wrongdoer dies before or pending the action. A defense that would bar or reduce a survivor's recovery if he were the plaintiff may be asserted against him, but shall not affect the recovery of any other survivor. Damages  (e) All potential beneficiaries of a recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate, shall be identified in the complaint and their relationships to the decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows: (1) Each survivor may recover the value of lost support and services from the date of the decedent's injury to his death, with interest, and future loss of support and services from the date of death and reduced to present value. In evaluating loss of support and services, the survivor's relationship to the decedent, the amount of the decedent's probable net income available for distribution to the particular survivor, and the replacement value of the decedent's services to the survivor may be considered. In computing the duration of future losses, the joint life expectancies of the survivors and the decedent and the period of minority in the case of healthy minor children may be considered. (2) The surviving spouse may also recover for loss of the decedent's companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. (3) Children of the decedent may also recover for lost parental companionship, instruction and guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. (4) Each parent of a deceased child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. (5) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent's injury or death may be recovered by a survivor who has paid them. (6) The decedent's personal representative may recover for the decedent's estate the following: (a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors excluding contributions in kind, with interest. If the decedent's survivors include a surviving spouse or lineal descendants, loss of net accumulations beyond death and reduced to present value may also be recovered. (b) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent's injury or death that have become a charge against his estate or that were paid by or on behalf of decedent, excluding amounts recoverable under paragraph (5), above. (c) Evidence of remarriage of the decedent's surviving spouse is admissible. (7) All awards for the decedent's estate are subject to the claims of creditors who have complied with the requirements of probate law concerning claims. Form of verdict  (f) The amounts awarded to each survivor and to the estate shall be stated separately in the verdict. Protection of minor and incompetents  (g) The court shall provide protection for any amount awarded for the benefit of a minor child or an incompetent pursuant to the Virgin Islands guardianship law, Title 15, Virgin Islands Code. Death of a survivor before judgment  (h) A survivor's death before final judgment shall limit the survivor's recovery to lost support and services to the date of his death. The personal representative shall pay the amount recovered to the personal representative of the deceased survivor. Court approval of settlements  (i) While an action under this section is pending, no settlement as to amount or apportionment among the beneficiaries which is objected to by any survivor or which affects a survivor who is a minor or an incompetent shall be effective unless approved by the court. Litigation expenses  (j) Attorney's fees and other expenses of litigation shall be paid by the personal representative and deducted from the awards to the survivors and the estate in proportion to the amount awarded to them, but expenses incurred for the benefit of a particular survivor or the estate shall be paid from their awards.