If your spouse has an asbestos lawsuit filed on his behalf before his death, his estate will take over the case and any damages will be awarded to the estate and divided among his survivors as would any other asset of the estate. Unless your spouse makes specific provisions in his will, most or all of the money will go to you as the surviving spouse. Depending on where you live, smaller amounts may be reserved to go to children directly.

Additionally, after your spouse dies, family members can institute a suit for wrongful death, seeking damages for loss of companionship, burial expenses, loss of economic benefit, and other losses related to your spouse’s death. Many of these damages are extremely subjective and putting a dollars and cents value is probably one of the most difficult tasks for the courts. There are many, many factors that must be taken into account to determine how much money to compensate an injured person. However, both the insurance companies and the courts have experience in determining how to value the loss of a relationship, how much your spouse could have contributed to the family wealth, and how much your emotional distress at watching your spouse die from asbestos exposure related complications is worth.

See our section on non-economic damages for more information.

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