Trial Attorney Blog
In a Wrongful Death case, Georgia law allows recovery for “the full value of the life of the deceased with deduction for ordinary and necessary expenses had he/she lived.” See O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1 et. seq. The term “full value of life” is somewhat elusive on its face but nonetheless, Georgia law is quite clear that the measure of damages in a wrongful death case includes both economic and non-economic damages.
One of the unique features of Georgia law is that damages in a wrongful death case must be assessed from the deceased’s standpoint not from that of his/her husband, wife, children or any other survivor. The measure of damages is the same for a person who has survived his injury but who was totally and permanently disabled as a result of it. Damages for the deceased are just the same as for a living plaintiff with a permanent and total disability except that there are no future special damages such as medical and other expenses. Of course, the measure of damages in a Georgia wrongful death action is not the subjective value that the deceased would have placed upon his own life, rather the damages in a Georgia wrongful death case must be assessed from the deceased’s standpoint. The question is what he or she lost rather than the perspective of what the husband, wife or children lost.
Under Georgia law, the term “full value of the life of the deceased” has two components. First, the “economic value” of the deceased’s normal life expectancy and second, the “non-economic component,” an intangible element incapable of exact proof which is measured only by the enlightened conscious of the jury. The economic value of the deceased’s life is based upon lifetime earnings. By computing how much money the deceased would likely have earned given his/her age, educational background, earnings record and life expectancy, the jury can determine what the economic value of the deceased’s normal life expectancy would equal. However, when someone loses their life, they lose much more than what they would have earned had they survived. They also lose the “non-economic value” of their life, which obviously, is the more important component of a wrongful death claim in Georgia. The intangible or “non-economic” component of a wrongful death claim arises out of the destruction of the deceased’s relationship with his loved ones. The deceased’s loss of his relationship with their husband, wife or children and associated factors such as society, advice, counsel and companionship are all part of the “full value” of the deceased’s life to be assessed as damages based upon all the facts and circumstances involved.
One of the essential points of proving damages in a Georgia wrongful death case is that life has value aside from one’s economic producing potential. If it did not, there would be little or no recoverable right for the wrongful death of children, poets, monks and others who have no significant earning potential at the time of their death. In this regard, Georgia law is unique in establishing the value of a life from the standpoint of a person whose life is lost. How did that person live his or her life? That question alone may allow a jury to determine that one who may have been incapable of producing vast economic wealth nonetheless had an extremely valuable life in terms of his or her enjoyment of it and what they derived from it. Indeed, there are many housewives and older people whose lives are extremely valuable and in many cases based on the quality of the life lived much more valuable than would be an executive’s life who, while he or she might have great earning capacity, might not have lived a full life otherwise.
While it is never possible in any wrongful death case to obtain full compensation for a lost life, nonetheless, it is imperative that juries be instructed upon the unique elements of damages in a wrongful death case in Georgia. Our experience has indicated that once a jury recognizes that the term “full value of the life of the deceased” encompasses both economic and non-economic damages, in that event, it is much more likely that a jury will be fair in its award for the wrongful death.