In a wrongful death matter the economic claim measures what the decedent would have contributed to the household over the rest of an expected life, not what the decedent would have earned in isolation. The analysis projects earnings and fringe benefits, deducts the share the decedent would have consumed personally, adds the value of household services and, where recoverable, other forms of support, and reduces the total to present value for the survivors or the estate as the governing framework requires.
In short
The components are the decedent's lost earnings and fringe benefits over a projected worklife, a personal consumption deduction that removes the portion of income the decedent would have spent on themselves, the replacement value of household services the decedent provided, lost financial support to dependents measured over each dependent's period of dependency, and in some frameworks the accumulation the decedent would have left to the estate. The records that drive the analysis are the decedent's tax returns, wage and benefit records, the household's composition and expenditures, and documentation of the services and care the decedent provided at home.
For a working-age decedent with dependents, net lost earnings and benefits are usually the largest component, and the personal consumption deduction is the assumption most likely to be contested because it scales the whole earnings figure. Household services can approach or exceed the earnings loss when the decedent was a full-time homemaker or a caregiver for a child or disabled family member. The length of the projection matters: life and worklife expectancy, the retirement age assumed, and whether support continues past a child's majority all change the total materially.
The economist builds the earnings base from the decedent's history and, where a career was interrupted early, from occupational data for the path the decedent was on, then projects it over a worklife expectancy with wage growth. Personal consumption is derived from household expenditure data adjusted to the household's size and income, and household services from time-use data and replacement wage rates for the tasks performed. Support to each survivor is measured over that survivor's expected period of dependency, and the future streams are discounted to present value with the rate stated. Because states differ on which components are recoverable and by whom, the report is organized to the framework counsel identifies and presents each component separately so it can be included or excluded as the law requires.
Stage-by-stage guidance on working with a forensic economist in wrongful death litigation.
From published household expenditure data, adjusted for the number of people in the household and the household's income level. The deduction represents the share of income the decedent would have spent on personal needs rather than on the family. The economist states the percentage used and its source, and shows how the total changes if a different percentage is applied.
Yes. The economist measures the hours of household work the decedent performed, using the household's own account and time-use data for a person of similar circumstances, and values those hours at the cost of replacing them with paid services. This component stands on its own and does not depend on the decedent having earned wages.
Over the period each survivor would reasonably have depended on the decedent: for a spouse, typically through the decedent's expected life or worklife; for a child, through the age of majority or the completion of education, as the record and the governing framework support. The report presents the periods separately so counsel can address them individually.
The economist reconstructs the earnings base from business tax returns, financial statements, invoices, and bank records, and separates the decedent's labor from the return on capital in the business. Where the history is short, occupational earnings data for comparable work supplements the record. The report states the reconstruction method so it can be examined.
Yes. When the governing framework separates the estate's claim from the survivors' claims, the report presents the components applicable to each so the same underlying figures support both without double counting.
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