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When a family member dies due to someone else's negligence, the surviving family has a legal right to compensation. Not just for funeral costs, but for the full economic and non-economic impact of the loss. Utah's wrongful death statute (§ 78B-3-106) authorizes recovery of all damages proximately caused by the wrongful act. This guide explains Utah wrongful death damages.
The largest component in most Utah wrongful death cases is the present value of the earnings. These are the amounts the deceased would have earned throughout their working life. Calculation requires:
A forensic economist retained by your attorney builds this calculation. The opposing insurer will hire its own economist with different assumptions. The range between the two experts' valuations is often contested at trial.
The Utah Department of Labor occupation and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data are commonly used to calculate replacement value. For a parent who provided primary childcare for three minor children, this can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is based on over the years until the youngest child reaches independence.
All medical costs incurred after the injurious event and before death are recoverable — whether the deceased survived for hours, days, or months. ICU hospitalization, surgery, emergency transport, and palliative care costs are documented and claimed. These expenses are often claimed through the survival action (see below) rather than the wrongful death claim.
Reasonable funeral, burial, and cremation costs are directly recoverable under Utah's wrongful death statute. The reasonableness standard applies. Extravagant funeral arrangements may not be fully compensable, but typical Utah funeral and burial expenses are recoverable without dispute.
Utah does not cap non-economic damages in wrongful death cases caused by negligence, auto accidents, product defects, or premises liability. (The only damages cap in Utah is the $450,000 non-economic cap in medical malpractice cases under it, which does not apply to most wrongful death claims.)
The grief, emotional suffering, and mental anguish experienced by surviving family members are compensable in Utah. This is not a speculative claim—jurors understand what it means to lose a spouse, parent, or child. Evidence of the relationship, the impact on daily life, and testimony from therapists and family members support this component of the award.
A surviving spouse's loss of the love, affection, companionship, and intimacy of a lifelong partner is compensable. The longer the marriage and the more integrated the couple's lives, the stronger this element. Utah courts consistently award substantial non-economic damages for the loss of a long-term spouse's companionship—particularly in cases where the surviving spouse faces decades of widowhood.
Minor children who lose a parent have a separate claim for the loss of that parent's guidance, counsel, training, and moral education throughout childhood and into adulthood. A child who loses a parent at age five has a substantially longer period of lost guidance than a child who loses a parent at age 17. Utah juries evaluate parental guidance claims individually for each child, based on the child's age and the demonstrated quality of the parent-child relationship.
A surviving spouse has an independent claim for loss of consortium—the loss of the marital relationship in all its dimensions. This includes not only companionship but also the practical partnership of marriage: shared child-rearing, shared financial planning, and shared daily life.
Utah Code § 78B-3-107 preserves the deceased's personal injury claim for the benefit of their estate. This survival action is separate from the wrongful death claim and recovers different losses:
The survival action value depends heavily on the deceased's consciousness and suffering before death. A victim who was conscious and in pain for weeks in intensive care has a large chance of survival. A victim who died instantly has a minimal survival action. Medical records, nurse and physician testimony, and expert medical opinions document the pre-death suffering.
The estate is the claimant for the survival action. The personal representative (executor or administrator) brings the survival action on behalf of the estate, and the proceeds pass to the estate's beneficiaries under the will or intestacy law.
If the deceased was partly at fault for the accident, Utah's modified comparative fault statute (§ 78B-5-818) reduces the wrongful death recovery by the deceased's percentage of fault. As long as the deceased was less than 50% at fault, the family can still recover — but the award is reduced.
For example, if the total wrongful death damages are $2 million but the deceased was found 25% at fault, the family recovers $1.5 million. If the deceased was 50% or more at fault, recovery is barred entirely.
Utah wrongful death damages do not flow equally to all heirs. They are distributed proportionally based on each heir's demonstrated loss, using the same principles as intestacy—generally prioritizing the surviving spouse and minor children, with parents recovering only if no surviving spouse or children exist.
When multiple heirs have competing interests (e.g., adult children from a prior marriage vs. a surviving second spouse), the allocation of recovery can be contested. Utah courts resolve these disputes equitably, weighing each heir's evidence of their relationship with the deceased and the impact of the loss on their life.
Free consultation for Utah wrongful death families: (801) 839-5652. No fee unless we recover.
See also: BAM Injury Law Case Results: Utah and Idaho Personal Injury Settlements
See also: Utah Wrongful Death Attorney: Case Results and What Utah Law Requires
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