Vertical · Wrongful death · Updated 2026

Wrongful death settlement calculator

We're sorry you're here. This tool adds up the economic damages you can document — funeral costs, lost financial support, and the estate's survival claim. It does not try to put a number on the loss itself. That part is explained below, honestly.

Live estimator

Add up what you can document

No signup · No tracking

This isn't the multiplier method used elsewhere on this site — there is no formula for the value of a human loss. This tool only totals the economic categories you enter. Read the note under "non-economic loss" carefully.

Funeral and burial costs ($)

Decedent's annual income ($)

Years of expected financial support: 15

E.g. years until the youngest dependent turns 18, or the decedent's expected remaining working years.

Medical bills before death ($)

Estate claim — treatment from injury to death.

Decedent's lost wages before death ($)

Estate claim — wages lost from injury to death.

Non-economic loss — your own figure ($)

Loss of consortium, companionship, and guidance. This calculator does not estimate this for you — there is no standard formula. Leave at $0 to see only the economic total, or enter a figure from a comparable case or attorney consultation.

Wrongful death claim total (survivors)

$833,000

Funeral and burial costs: $8,000
Loss of financial support: $825,000
Non-economic (as entered): $0
Survival claim (separate, estate): $0
COMBINED (BOTH CLAIMS): $833,000

This totals only what you entered. It is not a settlement estimate or a guarantee.

What the calculator adds up — and what it doesn't

Funeral and burial costs and loss of financial support (the decedent's income, projected over their expected remaining working years or until dependents reach adulthood) are the two economic categories most wrongful death claims include, and the calculator totals them directly from what you enter.

Non-economic loss — loss of consortium, companionship, and guidance — is usually the largest part of a wrongful death claim, and there is no standard formula for it. It reflects the specific relationship: a spouse, a young child, a parent. Juries and settlement negotiations arrive at this figure case-by-case, informed by comparable verdicts in similar circumstances. This calculator leaves that field at your discretion rather than inventing a multiplier for it — we don't think a formula for the value of a relationship would be honest.

The survival claim — a separate, related claim

If the decedent survived for any period after the injury before passing, a survival action may also exist — medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages from the injury up to the date of death. This claim legally belongs to the decedent's estate, not the surviving family, even though the two are frequently filed together. Some states require offsetting the survival claim against the wrongful death claim to avoid counting the decedent's lost income twice; check your state's rule.

Q&A

Frequently asked questions

01 What damages can be recovered in a wrongful death claim?

Funeral and burial costs, the financial support the decedent would have provided (lost income and benefits projected over their expected working years or the dependents' minority), and non-economic losses like loss of consortium, companionship, and guidance. There's no standard formula for the non-economic portion — it's negotiated or decided by a jury based on the specific relationship and circumstances.

02 What is a survival action, and how is it different from wrongful death?

A survival action belongs to the decedent's estate and covers what the decedent personally suffered between the injury and death — medical bills, pain and suffering during that period, and lost wages up to the date of death. A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family and covers their losses going forward. The two are often filed together but paid to different parties, and some states require offsetting one against the other to avoid counting the decedent's lost income twice.

03 Who can file a wrongful death claim?

Every state allows a spouse and children to file. Beyond that it varies — some states extend standing to parents, siblings, or the estate when there's no surviving spouse or child. Check your state's wrongful death statute for who specifically has standing in your situation.

04 How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim?

Most states set a specific wrongful death statute of limitations, commonly measured from the date of death rather than the date of injury — which matters if the decedent survived for a period after the injury before passing. This is often a different deadline than the general personal injury statute of limitations, so confirm the wrongful death-specific deadline in your state.