Opinion ID: 747145
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Loss of Support, Gifts, and Contributions

Text: Under DOHSA, recovery in a wrongful death action occurring on the high seas shall be a fair and just compensation for the pecuniary loss sustained by the decedent's wife, husband, parent, child, or dependent relative. 46 U.S.C. app. §§ 761, 762. The district court determined that the Kohns' 17-year-old son, Robert, but not their two adult children, could recover for loss of support, which [326 U.S.App.D.C. 387] includes all the financial contributions that the decedent would have made to his dependents had he lived, Gaudet, 414 U.S. at 584-85, 94 S.Ct. at 814-15. The court decided, however, that all three could recover for the loss of gifts and financial contributions that, based on past experience, they could reasonably have expected to receive from their parents in the future. The jury awarded the three children an aggregate of $250,000 to compensate them for the loss of their father's support (in the case of Robert), gifts, and contributions and an aggregate of $200,000 for the loss of their mother's gifts and contributions. KAL challenges these awards on three grounds. First, it claims that the loss of support award for Robert should have been limited to support until he reached the age of 18. Second, it argues that the awards to the adult children for loss of gifts and of contributions are not permitted under DOHSA. Third, it contends that the awards for the losses of gifts from Lillian Kohn should be struck because she had virtually no income independent of her husband.
KAL contends that the award for loss of support of Robert Kohn should be set aside. Although Robert was a 17-year-old minor at the time of the plane crash, he was preparing to go away to college. Mr. Kohn had established a custodial account containing more than $100,000 for his education, which was distributed to him when he turned 18. According to KAL, there was no evidence that Robert would have been financially dependent on his parents after reaching that age because the money in the account was sufficient to meet his education and living expenses. KAL ignores uncontradicted testimony that the Kohns had provided their older children, Marsha and Joseph, with complete financial support through college and graduate school notwithstanding the existence of similar custodial accounts for their benefit. Under the circumstances, we are satisfied that the jury was entitled to conclude that, had they survived, the Kohns would have continued to support Robert financially until he had completed his college and graduate school education. Accordingly, we affirm the award.
Contrary to what KAL argues, there is nothing in DOHSA that prohibits an award for an adult's loss of financial gifts and contributions. In fact, the statute does not limit the kinds of losses for which damages may be awarded so long as they are pecuniary in nature. There is no question that the loss of prospective financial contributions is pecuniary in nature. Accordingly, we find no error.
KAL maintains that the district court erred when it rejected KAL's motion to set aside the jury awards to the three children for the loss of gifts and contributions from their mother. It notes that the record contains no evidence that Mrs. Kohn received any income other than the $11,653 she earned in 1979 or that she provided gifts or contributions out of her own resources. Therefore, KAL argues, these awards represent double recoveries by the children. We agree with the court, however, that there was sufficient evidence that Mrs. Kohn had used funds from the joint checking account she shared with her husband to make gifts and contributions to her children to support the conclusion that she would have continued to do so in the future. Accordingly, we affirm the awards.