The sudden loss of a loved one can send emotional shock waves throughout a Hawaiian family. Surviving family members can find it difficult to move on with life without the love and support of their lost loved one. Children are often forced to grow up without parents, spouses have to move on without their other half and parents have to find a way to live life without their child. This emotional devastation can be enough to be overwhelming, but the truth of the matter is that financial losses also contribute to surviving families’ hardships.
Fortunately, many of these families have the ability to recover compensation for their damages, if they can succeed on a wrongful death claim. Proving liability in one of these cases can be challenging enough, but even those who are able to do so, must still prove the extent of their losses before they can recover compensation. Therefore, proving damages is an important part of a wrongful death lawsuit.
The amount of a judgment is left in the hands of a jury. But, their determination is not necessarily final. Instead, a judge retains the power to either increase or decrease the award amount based on a variety of factors. Amongst those factors may be the deceased individual’s spending habits, earning potential and the number of dependents he or she supported.
Therefore, surviving family members not only have to focus on persuading a jury as to the damages suffered, but they also need to put forth enough evidence to justify an accurate award. Considering the fact that wrongful death claims involve proving both liability and damages, there is a lot that can go wrong.