When you lose a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, you have the right to pursue justice. In Kansas City, wrongful death lawsuits allow surviving family members to hold negligent parties accountable and secure a settlement for the losses that they have endured.
When working with a wrongful death attorney in Kansas City, the compensation you may receive falls into two categories: economic damages, which address measurable financial losses tied to the death, and non-economic damages, which account for the personal, human losses your family now carries.
Defining Wrongful Death Under Missouri and Kansas State Law
Both Missouri and Kansas treat wrongful death as a civil claim that arises when one person’s negligent or intentional conduct causes another person’s death. If the deceased could have filed a personal injury lawsuit had they survived, surviving family members can step into that role and pursue the claim on their loved one’s behalf.
Missouri’s statute (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.080) and Kansas’s statute (Kan. Stat. § 60-1901) both follow this framework, but each state sets its own rules for who may file, what may be recovered, and how compensation gets distributed. The laws that apply will depend on which side of the state line the death occurred.
Economic Damages in Kansas City Wrongful Death Claims
Economic damages reimburse your family for the calculable financial losses tied to the death. Neither Kansas nor Missouri places a cap or limit on economic damages, which means that you can recover the full value of these losses.
Common types of economic damages in a wrongful death claim include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Medical bills from the deceased’s final injury or illness
- Lost wages and benefits the deceased would have earned over their working life
- The value of the household services the deceased regularly performed
- The value of caregiving that the deceased provided to children or other dependents
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Non-Economic Damages in Kansas City Wrongful Death Claims
Non-economic damages address the losses that don’t come with receipts, recognizing the human impact of your loss. These damages can be challenging to quantify, but a Kansas City wrongful death lawyer can apply common methods used to calculate intangible losses and push for the full amount the law allows.
Examples of non-economic may include:
- Mental anguish, grief, and bereavement
- Loss of the deceased’s companionship, comfort, and consortium
- Loss of the deceased’s care, guidance, counsel, and support
- Loss of instruction and training the deceased would have provided
- Pain and suffering the deceased experienced between the injury and the moment of death
Kansas limits non-economic damages in wrongful death cases to $250,000, regardless of the severity of the case. Missouri imposes no general cap on non-economic damages in standard wrongful death claims, but separate limits apply in medical malpractice cases.
Fight for the Compensation Your Family Deserves
No dollar figure replaces the person you lost, but holding the responsible party financially accountable can ease the weight your family is carrying. The injury lawyers at Dollar, Burns, Becker & Hershewe handle wrongful death claims across Kansas City, and we can walk you through which damages apply to your circumstances. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation and walk through your options with a Kansas City wrongful death lawyer.