When a person dies unexpectedly as the result of someone else’s misconduct or careless lapse, all too often the individual’s grief-stricken family members are left to struggle with not only immense sorrow, but severe financial stress, in the wake of the tragedy. The legal mechanism of a wrongful death claim offers a recourse for families trapped in this unhappy situation, allowing them an avenue whereby they can seek compensation for losses associated with their loved one’s death. Given that grief itself knows no limit, families in this situation often wonder whether there is a cap on the wrongful death compensation they may be able to recover. Florida law does not impose a strict maximum for the compensation awarded in wrongful death cases, but a variety of factors can reduce the likely total ordered by a court. To learn more and gain a more thorough understanding of the factors affecting wrongful death compensation in Florida, consider scheduling a consultation with one of the compassionate and experienced wrongful death lawyers on the Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer team. We understand your loss and are here to support grieving families. Call (802) 457-4848 to set up a meeting with our staff to evaluate your case, at no cost to you.
Who Can Recover for Wrongful Death in Florida?
Wrongful death compensation in Florida is carefully calibrated according to (at least) the following factors:
- The type of wrongful death case: Special rules can apply to Florida wrongful death cases arising out of certain scenarios, such as alleged medical mistakes or some instances involving work with contractors.
- The type of damages: Not all survivors who might be named as claimants in a wrongful death case are necessarily eligible to recover compensation for every type of damage (loss of consortium, for instance, is usually recoverable only by a surviving spouse).
- The relationship of the potential claimant to the deceased person, and to other surviving family members: Some members of a deceased person’s family may only be entitled to certain types of compensation when there is a survivor with a closer familial relationship to the person who has died).
Generally speaking, in Florida only members of a deceased person’s family are eligible to recover wrongful death compensation for most types of damages. Two exceptions to this rule are:
- The decedent’s own estate: Fla. Rev. Stat. § 768.21(6)(a) (2024) establishes that the estate’s personal representative (similar to the role of an executor) may recover, on behalf of the decedent’s estate, a variety of economic damages arising out of the individual’s injury, death, and consequent loss of income.
- Medical and funeral expenses: The costs of medical care the deceased person received for injuries arising out of a responsible party’s wrongful action (or inaction), as well as costs related to the individual’s funeral occasioned by his or her untimely death, can typically be recovered by anybody who has paid them “out of pocket”; if the expenses are paid out of value of the decedent’s estate, then medical and funeral expenses may instead constitute a portion of the economic damages the personal representative seeks to recover on behalf of the estate.
Florida’s rules regarding who may recover which types of compensation, and under what circumstances, can be complicated, especially when many different family members may have suffered distinct types of damages, both economic and non-economic, as a result of their loved one’s injury and subsequent death. At Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer, our compassionate wrongful death attorneys are familiar with the complexities of Florida’s Wrongful Death Act (WDA) and experienced in helping grieving family members to understand how Florida’s laws regarding wrongful death compensation may relate to their individual circumstances, and we offer free informational consultations to assist families in evaluating their potential wrongful death cases. One of our Florida wrongful death lawyers may be able to help you develop a clearer picture of your legal options if another party’s wrongful conduct has led a loved one to be taken from you too soon.
Types of Damages in Florida Wrongful Death Cases
Most of the damages awarded in civil lawsuits under “torts” law – a category which generally covers legal actions for both personal injury (if the wronged party survives) and wrongful death (if harms the individual suffers lead to his or her death) – are what legal professionals refer to as “compensatory” damages. The name comes from the fact that these damages are designed to compensate one party for some form of harm or loss they have suffered as a result of someone else’s wrongdoing, or “tort.”
What Are Torts?
Torts can be intentional, meaning that the wrongdoer deliberately acted so as to cause harm; civil lawsuits alleging intentional tort are comparatively rare. Torts can also be accidental, arising when someone fails to take an appropriate degree of care to prevent damages from occurring; claims of this type belong to the large category of claims based on alleged negligence with which many Florida residents are familiar. Under certain circumstances, torts can even be subject to the legal doctrine of strict liability, under which it does not matter how much care the tortfeasor (the party whose wrongful action or failure to act led to damages) took or what his or her intentions may have been, because they had an overriding responsibility to prevent the kind of harm that occurred. As the Florida Bar Association (FBA) explains, wrongful death cases can be brought in Florida for either negligence or intentional harm.
Punitive vs. Compensatory Damages for Wrongful Death
The overwhelming majority of wrongful death cases are based on the premise of negligence, and in fact the articles that together form the WDA are found in Chapter 768 of the state’s Torts Code – a fact which can indirectly affect the types and amounts of compensation likely to be awarded in a Florida wrongful death case. While Florida law does not establish a limit on the amount of compensatory damages available for wrongful death under most circumstances, Fla. Rev. Stat. § 768.73 (2024) does impose limits on punitive damages under some circumstances.
Implications of Negligence vs. Intentional Tort for Punitive Damages
Punitive damages, unlike compensatory damages, are not awarded to compensate victims for the harms and losses they have endured as the result of another party’s misdeeds or careless lapses. Also unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages will not generally make an appearance in the settlement negotiations that are a common feature of the wrongful death claims process and which attempt to arrive at a fair value, outside of court, as compensation for the victim’s family (usually based on calculations similar to those that might be put forward in formal legal proceedings). Instead, punitive damages are typically awarded by juries, and their function is expressly to punish (hence the name) the defendant in the case. This type of punishment is usually meted out only when a jury determines the defendant’s conduct to have been truly reprehensible. Such findings, while not by any means unheard-of in cases based on negligence, may be more likely in wrongful death cases where the defendant is found to have deliberately caused harm (intentional tort).
Limitations on Punitive Damages
Although Florida does not apply a limit, or “cap” on compensatory damages in wrongful death cases under most circumstances, punitive damages are typically limited across civil lawsuits of most types. The limit that applies depends on specific elements established by statute, but generally speaking in instances where the defendant’s actions (or inactions) are not held to have been especially egregious and there is no implication of intentional tort, the limit can be expected to be set at either $500,000 or three times the total of the compensatory damages awarded to each claimant, whichever is greater.
Under certain conditions, the limit on punitive damages may be raised, or removed altogether. Different conditions apply to raising vs. removing the cap on punitive damages, so a consultation with a wrongful death lawyer familiar with Florida cases may be able to help you determine the factors that pertain to your situation.
Other Limitations on Wrongful Death Compensation in Florida
Besides the limitations on who can pursue a claim for wrongful death and the conditions and amounts for awards of compensatory damages, some bereaved loved ones in Florida may encounter limitations on their wrongful death compensation due to the state’s application of the legal principle known as “comparative fault.” For wrongful death cases not alleging malpractice of medicine, Fla. Rev. Stat. § 768.81(6) bars claimants from an award of compensation if the injured party was more than 50% responsible for his or her own harm. In personal injury cases, this means that someone who is more than half responsible for their own injuries cannot recover compensation from another party who contributed a lesser portion to the conditions that led to those harms. In wrongful death cases, sadly, it often means that if the deceased person’s own fault is found to have been more than half responsible for their injuries and eventual death, the individual’s family may be left without financial recourse. Obtaining the legal perspective of a trained professional may be helpful in assessing whether the doctrine of comparative fault is likely to affect a claim for wrongful death compensation after the loss of your loved one.
Speak With an Experienced Wrongful Death Attorney
If you have recently lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence or misdeeds, you are likely angry as well as grieving – and you may be suffering from financial stress related to the loss of income in your household, as well as medical costs and funeral expenses. Questions about the limits on Florida wrongful death compensation are natural under those circumstances, and the Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer team is here to answer them. Call our office today at (802) 457-4848 to connect with a member of our team and set up a free consultation to discuss the particulars of your situation.