In most states, families can bring a wrongful death action based on a loved one who has died from asbestos exposure, as long as the lawsuit is filed within the period of time allowed by law.

You will, however, receive damages for different things than if the lawsuit had been filed by your loved one. Your damages will be based on loss of companionship, the mental anguish you have suffered as a result of the death, future loss of financial contributions, funeral and related expenses, medical expenses, the pain and suffering your loved one had before death, and, rarely, punitive damages or loss of inheritance. For example, the actual medical, funeral, and burial expenses will be reimbursed to you. A spouse may receive damages for loss of consortium – essentially, the loss of the marital relationship – which may be based in part on how much longer, statistically, the marriage would have lasted given the ages of the parties. A spouse may also receive damages for loss of economic opportunity, or the loss of the income that the deceased would have brought into the family until retirement. This can, in some states, also become an item of damages for children, particularly young children, called loss of inheritance. Mental anguish and suffering by the spouse and family members as well as pain and suffering of the deceased that was witnessed by the spouse and family members will also have a dollar figure assigned. While these are very subjective damages, and difficult to put a dollar amount on, insurance adjusters and the courts are very experienced in figuring out what dollar amount does apply to these types of damages.

See our section on pain and suffering damages for more information. For more specific legal information about your particular case, contact a lawyer or a law firm who specializes in asbestos lawsuits.

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