TL;DR:
The primary costs in a wrongful death claim are typically handled on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing upfront. The main expenses include the attorney’s fee, which is a set percentage (usually 33-40%) of the final settlement or award. Other costs are case-related expenses like court filing fees, expert witness fees, and deposition costs, which your law firm advances and recoups from the settlement. Finally, any outstanding medical liens or insurance subrogation claims must be paid back from the recovery amount.
Losing a family member due to someone else’s negligence is a profound tragedy. In the United States, preventable injuries are a leading cause of death, with incidents like motor vehicle collisions and medical errors claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. When a death is caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, surviving family members may have the right to file a wrongful death claim. This type of civil lawsuit seeks to hold the responsible party accountable and secure financial compensation for the losses the family has suffered.
While no amount of money can replace a loved one, a wrongful death claim can provide financial stability for a family facing unexpected hardship. These claims are governed by state statutes that define who can file a lawsuit and what types of damages can be recovered. Understanding the financial structure of these cases is essential for families considering their legal options. Many people worry about the expense of hiring a lawyer, but the system is designed to provide access to justice regardless of a family’s financial situation. The following sections break down the specific costs and financial components you can expect.
The Contingency Fee Agreement: Your Primary Legal Cost
The most significant legal cost in nearly all wrongful death cases is the attorney’s fee, which is handled through a contingency fee agreement. This arrangement is the standard for personal injury and wrongful death law because it allows families to pursue justice without paying any upfront legal fees.
A contingency fee means the lawyer’s payment is contingent upon winning the case. If the attorney secures a financial settlement or a court award for you, they receive a pre-agreed percentage of the total amount. If the case is unsuccessful and you receive no compensation, you owe the attorney no fees for their time and labor. This model shifts the financial risk from the client to the law firm, making it possible for anyone to hire experienced legal representation.
How Contingency Fees Are Calculated
The percentage for a contingency fee can vary based on the complexity of the case, the law firm’s policies, and state regulations. However, a common structure is:
- 33.3% (or one-third) of the gross recovery if the case settles before a lawsuit is filed or before significant litigation begins.
- 40% of the gross recovery if the case proceeds to litigation, requires a trial, or becomes more complex.
For example, if your case settles for $900,000, a 33.3% contingency fee would be $300,000. It is crucial to understand that this percentage is calculated from the gross recovery amount, before any other case expenses or liens are deducted. This fee compensates the legal team for their expertise, time, resources, and the risk they took on by financing the case.
Why This Model Benefits Families
The contingency fee system is fundamental to providing equal access to the civil justice system. A family grieving a loss and potentially facing the loss of a primary breadwinner often cannot afford to pay a lawyer an hourly rate, which can run into hundreds of dollars per hour. This “no win, no fee” structure ensures that a family’s ability to hold a negligent party accountable is not determined by their bank account. It also incentivizes the law firm to achieve the best possible outcome, as their compensation is directly tied to the amount of compensation they secure for the family.
Case Expenses and Litigation Costs: What You Pay For
Beyond the attorney’s fee, every wrongful death lawsuit involves a range of direct expenses needed to build and pursue the case. These are often called “case costs” or “litigation expenses.” Under a contingency fee agreement, the law firm typically advances these funds on the client’s behalf. This means the firm pays for everything needed to move the case forward, and these advanced costs are then reimbursed from the settlement or award.
These expenses are separate from the attorney’s fee. The standard practice is to first deduct the attorney’s percentage from the gross settlement, and then deduct the reimbursed case expenses from the remaining balance. It is essential to review your agreement with your attorney to understand exactly how these costs are handled.
Common Litigation Expenses
The costs can vary significantly depending on the case’s complexity, but they often include:
- Court Filing Fees: Every court charges a fee to file a lawsuit and subsequent legal documents.
- Expert Witness Fees: This is often the largest case expense. Experts are needed to provide testimony on complex issues and can charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars per hour.
- Deposition Costs: This includes fees for court reporters to transcribe testimony, videographers to record depositions, and securing locations.
- Investigation Costs: This can involve hiring private investigators, obtaining police reports, getting medical records, and gathering other critical evidence.
- Service of Process Fees: These are fees paid to formally deliver legal documents to the defendants in the case.
- Mediation or Arbitration Fees: If the case goes to alternative dispute resolution, there are costs associated with hiring a neutral third-party mediator.
- Trial Exhibits and Technology: Creating visual aids, charts, and presentations for a jury can be a significant expense in cases that go to trial.
For example, a complex medical malpractice wrongful death claim might require hiring multiple medical experts to review records and testify, leading to case expenses that can exceed $100,000. A more straightforward car accident case might have much lower expenses. Your attorney should be transparent about these costs and keep you informed as they are incurred.
Understanding Economic Damages: The Tangible Financial Losses
When discussing the “costs” of a wrongful death, it is also important to understand the damages that a claim seeks to recover. These damages are the foundation of the case’s value. They are typically broken into two categories: economic and non-economic. Economic damages represent the tangible, calculable financial losses the family has suffered due to their loved one’s death.
These damages are meant to restore the family to the financial position they would have been in had the death not occurred. Proving these losses often requires documentation, financial records, and testimony from economic experts.
Lost Income and Future Earning Capacity
One of the largest components of economic damages is the loss of financial support the deceased would have provided. This is not just their salary at the time of death but their entire future earning capacity. To calculate this, an economist will consider:
- The deceased’s age, education, and career path.
- Their salary, wages, and benefits (like health insurance and retirement contributions).
- Potential for promotions, raises, and career advancement.
- Their expected work-life expectancy.
The expert will project these future earnings over a lifetime and then discount that total to its present-day value. This calculation provides a concrete figure for the financial support the family has lost.
Medical Expenses and Funeral Costs
Any medical bills incurred as a result of the final injury or illness leading to the death are recoverable as economic damages. This includes costs for emergency services, hospital stays, surgeries, and palliative care. Additionally, the reasonable costs of a funeral, burial, or cremation are also included. These are typically straightforward to prove with receipts and invoices.
Loss of Services and Support
Economic damages also cover the monetary value of the services the deceased provided to the household. This can include childcare, home maintenance, cooking, cleaning, financial management, and transportation. For example, if a stay-at-home parent is killed, the surviving spouse would now have to pay for childcare and other household services. An expert can assign a market value to these lost services to include in the damages calculation.
Calculating Non-Economic Damages: Placing a Value on Intangible Losses
Non-economic damages are intended to compensate the surviving family members for the profound, intangible losses they have experienced. While no dollar amount can truly measure this suffering, the legal system attempts to assign a value to it. These damages are often the most significant part of a wrongful death award, as they acknowledge the deep personal and emotional impact of the loss.
The specific types of non-economic damages available vary by state law, but they generally address the human cost of the tragedy. Unlike economic damages, there is no simple formula, and the value is often determined by a jury’s assessment of the family’s testimony and the nature of their relationship with the deceased.
Loss of Companionship, Consortium, and Guidance
These terms describe the loss of the relationship itself. They are central to any wrongful death claim and depend on who is bringing the claim:
- Loss of Consortium: This typically applies to a surviving spouse and refers to the loss of love, affection, comfort, society, and intimacy.
- Loss of Companionship and Society: This applies more broadly to all close family members, including children and parents. It acknowledges the loss of the deceased’s presence in their lives.
- Loss of Guidance and Nurture: This is particularly relevant for surviving children who have lost a parent. It compensates for the loss of parental guidance, training, and education they would have received.
Pain and Suffering of the Deceased (Survival Action)
In some states, the law allows the deceased’s estate to bring a “survival action” alongside the wrongful death claim. This action seeks compensation for the conscious pain and suffering the deceased person experienced before their death. For example, if a person was severely injured in a crash and remained conscious for hours or days before passing away, a survival action would seek damages for the terror, pain, and emotional distress they endured during that time.
Mental Anguish of the Survivors
This damage category compensates the surviving family members for their own grief, sorrow, and mental anguish resulting from the death. It recognizes the severe emotional trauma that accompanies the sudden, wrongful loss of a close relative. Proving these damages often involves powerful testimony from family members describing how the loss has affected their lives.
The Role of Expert Witnesses and Their Associated Costs
Expert witnesses are essential in almost every wrongful death case, and their fees are a major component of the overall case expenses. These professionals provide specialized knowledge that is beyond the understanding of an average juror. Their analysis and testimony are critical for proving both liability (who was at fault) and damages (the extent of the family’s losses).
An experienced wrongful death attorney will have a network of credible, respected experts to call upon. The defense will also have their own experts, so having compelling expert testimony is often what decides the outcome of a case.
Types of Experts and Their Functions
- Medical Experts: A doctor or specialist is often needed to establish the official cause of death and link it directly to the defendant’s negligent actions. In a medical malpractice case, multiple specialists may be required to testify about the standard of care that was violated.
- Economic Experts: As mentioned earlier, forensic economists or vocational experts are hired to calculate the full extent of the family’s financial losses. They create detailed reports projecting lost income, benefits, and services over a lifetime.
- Accident Reconstructionists: In cases involving car, truck, or industrial accidents, these experts use physics, engineering, and forensic evidence to reconstruct the sequence of events. Their testimony can definitively prove how an incident occurred and who was at fault.
- Grief Counselors or Psychologists: In some cases, a mental health professional may provide testimony about the profound psychological impact of the loss on the surviving family members, helping a jury understand the severity of their non-economic damages.
The cost of these experts can range from a few thousand dollars for a simple report to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for extensive analysis and trial testimony in a complex case. These costs are advanced by the law firm and are a necessary investment in building the strongest possible claim.
How Liens and Subrogation Affect Your Final Payout
After a settlement or verdict is reached, there is one final set of costs that must be addressed before the family receives their net recovery: liens. A lien is a legal right or claim against an asset, which in this case is the settlement money. Liens are typically held by insurance companies or healthcare providers who paid for expenses related to the deceased’s final injury or illness.
The legal concept of “subrogation” gives an insurance company the right to step into the shoes of the policyholder to recover money it has paid out. If a health insurer paid $50,000 for the deceased’s final hospital stay, that insurer has a right to be reimbursed from the settlement obtained from the at-fault party.
Common Types of Liens in Wrongful Death Cases
- Health Insurance Liens: Private health insurance companies (like Blue Cross, Aetna, etc.) will almost always place a lien for the medical costs they covered.
- Medicare and Medicaid Liens: If the deceased was a beneficiary of Medicare or Medicaid, these government entities have a powerful, federally protected right to be reimbursed from any settlement. These liens are mandatory and must be satisfied.
- Hospital Liens: Some hospitals will file a lien directly against a future settlement to ensure their bills are paid.
- Workers’ Compensation Liens: If the death occurred on the job, the workers’ compensation carrier that paid benefits will have a lien on any recovery from a third-party lawsuit.
A critical part of a wrongful death attorney’s job is to negotiate these liens. An experienced lawyer can often get lienholders to significantly reduce the amount they are demanding, which directly increases the amount of money the family takes home.
Scenario: Breakdown of a $1,000,000 Settlement
To see how these costs work together, consider this example:
- Gross Settlement Amount: $1,000,000
- Attorney’s Fee (33.3%): -$333,333
- Case Expenses (Expert Fees, Depositions, etc.): -$50,000
- Medical Liens (Negotiated down from $100,000): -$60,000
- Net Recovery to the Family: $556,667
This illustrates how the various costs are deducted and why negotiating liens is so important for maximizing the family’s final compensation.
Conclusion
Understanding the financial aspects of a wrongful death claim can help demystify the legal process and empower families to make informed decisions during a difficult time. The primary costs are structured to provide access to justice without upfront financial burdens. The contingency fee agreement ensures that legal representation is based on the merits of the case, not a family’s ability to pay. Case expenses, while significant, are advanced by the law firm and reimbursed only if the case is successful.
The ultimate goal of a wrongful death claim is to secure compensation for all categories of loss, from tangible economic damages like lost income to the profound non-economic damages of losing a loved one’s companionship and guidance. After accounting for attorney’s fees, case costs, and any outstanding liens, the remaining recovery provides crucial financial support for the family’s future.
If your family is coping with such a loss, the most important step you can take is to understand your legal rights. Pursuing a claim is a significant decision, and you deserve clear answers tailored to your specific situation. Contact a qualified wrongful death attorney for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss the details of your case and get a transparent overview of the potential costs and outcomes. Contact us for free consultation today.