Nearly every wrongful death claim with a working-age decedent or a decedent who supported a household justifies an economist, because the loss is a stream of future contributions that must be projected over an expected life and reduced to present value. The claim measures what the decedent would have provided to the survivors in earnings, benefits, and household work, less what the decedent would have consumed personally where the venue requires that deduction. Counsel considering an economist should first establish who the survivors are and what the decedent was contributing at the time of death.
Checklist
Identify the survivors entitled to recover and the framework the venue applies to their claim
Gather the decedent's tax returns, W-2s, and benefit records for the years before death
Document the household: who lived with the decedent, their ages, and the decedent's share of the household work
Note whether the decedent was the primary earner, a secondary earner, or a homemaker whose contribution was mainly household services
Confirm the decedent's age, health history, and education so worklife and life expectancy can be addressed
Questions to ask the economist
How do you treat personal consumption, and does the venue's framework require the deduction?
How do you value household services for a decedent who did most of the unpaid work in the home?
What do you need to project earnings for a decedent who was early in a career or between jobs at death?
Do you separate the loss by survivor when the framework requires it?
Timeline
One to two weeks to a preliminary view once the earnings records and household information are available. The full report follows the retention and records phases.
Required documents
Tax returns and W-2s or 1099s for several years before death
Employer benefit statements, pension or retirement plan documents
Household composition and the ages of dependents
Death certificate and the decedent's date of birth and education history
Common pitfalls
Treating the decedent's gross earnings as the loss without addressing consumption, benefits, and household services
Overlooking a homemaker decedent because there were no wages to lose, when household services can be the largest component
Delaying the household inventory until memories fade and the survivors' accounts become harder to document
Does a wrongful death claim for a retired decedent need an economist?
Often, yes. A retired decedent may have provided household services, pension or Social Security income that ended or reduced at death, and financial support to survivors. Each of those is a future stream that must be projected over the remaining life expectancy and discounted to present value.
How soon after the death should counsel involve the economist?
Early enough to capture the household's account of the decedent's work at home and financial support while the survivors can still describe it in detail. The earnings records can be gathered at any time, but the household services inventory depends on memories that fade, and the economist's questionnaire is easiest to complete in the first months. Retention itself can follow once the claim is framed.
Who decides which survivors' losses are included?
Counsel does, based on the framework the venue applies. The economist measures the loss for each survivor counsel identifies and presents the components separately, so a survivor or a component can be included or excluded without rebuilding the analysis. The economist does not opine on who is entitled to recover.
References
National Center for Health Statistics. (n.d.). Life tables. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 26, 2026. cdc.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). American Time Use Survey (ATUS). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov