If someone dies because of negligence, surviving family members have the right to pursue compensation. But it’s important to understand what you can actually recover.
In Ohio, wrongful death damages fall into distinct categories. Knowing the difference in these categories helps surviving family members understand the potential value of their claim.
Each wrongful death case is unique. The final compensation that comes from a claim depends on specific factors about the person who died, their relationships with the surviving family members, and the circumstances surrounding their death. Many families don’t realize the difference between what insurance companies offer and what they’re actually entitled to recover.
This is why it’s important to work with an experienced attorney who understands how to identify every avenue of recovery. Here’s what can potentially be recovered as wrongful death damages in Ohio.
What Families Can Recover in an Ohio Wrongful Death Case
Ohio wrongful death damages fall into two categories—economic and non-economic damages. Understanding both is important when it comes to assessing the potential value of your claim.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the financial losses a family can document, calculate, and prove. These can include:
- Lost Income and Benefits: The wages, raises, and benefits the deceased would have earned over their working life.
- Loss of Services: Childcare, household management, meal preparation—if the deceased provided these, the family now bears the cost of replacing them.
- Medical and Funeral Expenses: Hospital bills, emergency treatment, and burial costs are all directly recoverable.
Together, these losses can add up to millions, especially when projected across decades of lost earning capacity.
Non-Economic Damages
When it comes to damages for wrongful death, non-economic losses are the ones that can’t be captured on a spreadsheet. Unlike many states, Ohio places no cap on non-economic damages in wrongful death cases. That means a jury award of $5 million for family suffering stands in full.
Non-economic damages can include:
- Loss of Companionship, Care, and Guidance: When a parent dies, children lose one of the most significant relationships of their lives. When a spouse dies, the surviving partner loses intimacy and partnership. Ohio law recognizes these losses have real monetary value.
- Mental Anguish and Emotional Suffering: Depression, anxiety, and grief don’t resolve quickly. These losses accumulate over years and are fully recognized in wrongful death claims.
In many wrongful death cases, non-economic damages ultimately exceed economic ones, and Ohio’s lack of a cap is what makes that possible.
5 Factors That Determine the Value of Your Wrongful Death Claim
Every case is different, but the value of a wrongful death claim typically comes down to a few key factors:
- Age, Health, and Life Expectancy: A 35-year-old’s projected losses differ dramatically from a 75-year-old’s.
- Income and Earning Capacity: This includes homemakers with no outside income but significant family value, and young people with high future potential.
- The Nature of Surviving Relationships: How close was the relationship? Did the deceased provide childcare, financial support, or emotional presence? These qualitative factors often drive the largest portion of damages.
- Circumstances of the Death: Gross negligence, recklessness, or willful misconduct carry different weight with juries than simple negligence.
- Insurance Policy Limits: If a negligent party carries only $100,000 in coverage, that ceiling constrains recovery regardless of actual damages (which is why identifying all responsible parties matters).
How Insurance Companies Undervalue Your Loss (And What You Can Do About It)
Insurance companies and opposing counsel routinely undervalue wrongful death claims. They minimize non-economic damages, challenge earning projections, and count on families not having the resources to fight back.
Building a comprehensive case requires economists to calculate lost earning capacity, psychologists to document emotional trauma, and vocational experts if career trajectory was a factor. Each one is essential, but also a cost most grieving families can’t handle on their own.
This is why it’s crucial to work with an attorney who fronts all expert costs so families can pursue the full value of their claim without paying anything upfront. Experienced wrongful death lawyers understand that the real value of a wrongful death case goes well beyond lost income.
Your Family Deserves Full Damages for Wrongful Death
If your loved one has died due to someone’s negligence, you deserve to understand the full value of your claim. Contact Chester Law Group at (800) 218-4243 or reach us online for a free consultation. We’ll evaluate wrongful death damages in Ohio specific to your family’s situation and explain what compensation you may be entitled to recover.