When filing a personal injury claim and doing your research about your rights, you may come across a term known as loss of consortium. To lose a loved one to a vehicle accident in San Diego can be a devastating incident for any person. When you and your family members have gone through such a tragedy, you might view the extent of your loss as the financial support that that person may have contributed to your family. However, this does not take into account the emotional support that you would have come to accept from your loved one.

Being deprived of that can be more devastating than any of the financial implications depending on your individual situation. In legal terms, the loss of someone’s caring companionship is referred to as loss of consortium. It recognizes the emotional toll of losing a loved one.

Some of the challenges that you may be facing in the wake of a sudden death include not being able to enjoy romantic or intimate relationship with your partner, not having the added support to maintain your property or home, being deprived of the loved one’s advice and having to raise your children without the assistance of another parent.

These are all categorized as non-economic damages, making it more challenging to quantify how much the loved one’s loss could actually mean to you in monetary terms. For this reason, some states prohibit noneconomic damages in wrongful cases, but California is not one of them. The civil jury instructions for California stipulate that a jury can award damages based on your being deprived of a loved one’s companionship. Loss of consortium can only be granted if the person who passed away was your spouse.

The state puts no cap on the amount that a jury may decide to award in this scenario, which is why it is critically important that you consult with a San Diego personal injury attorney who has experience in the field of wrongful death. Most people filing a wrongful death case and fighting for loss of consortium, among other forms of compensation, will find it difficult to understand the law and the various elements involved in settlement. This is why many surviving family members will retain a wrongful death lawyer to help them. 

There are many different challenges that you face in the wake of learning to cope without your loved one and being able to have access to a dedicated attorney to assist you with this process and to help you understand economic and noneconomic damages are some things that can help you going forward.