Aronfeld Trial Lawyers represents people seriously hurt through someone else’s negligence. Talk to us about what happened. The consultation is free.
SE HABLA ESPAÑOL · No Recovery. No Fee.
*Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
AVAILABLE 24/7, CALL US AT 1-866-597-4529
The family members of passengers who die while on a cruise ship may have a viable legal claim against the cruise line when the death occurs because of the negligence or carelessness of the cruise line or its medical team. However, the law that covers these incidents is complex and governed primarily by an 1886 statute called the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA).
Ironically, the law was written to provide fair compensation to the family of crew members who died accidentally while working on commercial vessels while the ships were on the high seas. High seas are defined as three nautical miles from the shore of the United States. DOHSA is a federal law and therefore preempts state laws that would normally provide benefits under the wrongful death act. In other words, it is the only means of suing the cruise line.¹
Loss of Support
The Death on the High Seas Act specifically allows for the recovery of money lost because of the financial support and contributions the deceased passenger would have made for his or her dependent family if he or she had lived. (Cir. 1987.).
A claim for loss of support is not the same as a claim for the decedent’s future earnings since the earnings must be reduced by taxes and as well as the amounts that the deceased would have consumed himself. The earnings are then reduced to present value at the after-tax earnings rates on the most conservative available investments. This kind of analysis requires an evaluation by an expert economist.
Additionally, the surviving spouse is also entitled to claim loss of support from earnings over the work-life expectancy of the deceased, and from projected retirement pensions or Social Security benefits–unless those benefits are already being paid. Surviving children can also claim loss of support of services until the child reaches age 22. When it appears likely that the child would attend college, some courts have awarded the surviving child the cost of attending college.
Loss of Services of the Deceased
Recovery of damages for loss of household services requires proof that such services were expected and likely to be provided, were it not for the wrongful death. The loss of household services performed by the decedent—such as mowing the lawn, painting and repairing the family home and family vehicles, and providing transportation to family members—is compensable, too.
To prove this, family members will have to provide testimony about the amount of time the decedent spent providing these services as well as what it costs to pay someone else to perform them.
Loss of Nurture, Guidance, and Instruction
The loss to a decedent’s children can also include the nurture, instruction, guidance, and the physical, intellectual, and moral training they would have received from their parent, but for the accidental death of that parent. This kind of loss sustained by the minor child is recognized as well under DOHSA. The value of care, nurture, and guidance may be difficult to compute exactly, but courts have found that there is a monetary value for these kinds of services.
One method our firm uses to compute that value is the expert opinion of vocational counselors who can opine on the rates of pay in a given community for teachers, guidance counselors, and psychologists.
Funeral Expenses
Funeral expenses are also reimbursable if paid by the decedent’s dependents.
¹ The one exception to this is that under the Jones Act, a seaman’s claim for personal injuries survives to his estate by virtue of F.E.L.A.§59, permitting the estate of the deceased seaman to recover damages for the decedent’s conscious pre-death pain and suffering (along with any loss of earnings or medical expenses between injury and death) where those losses are proven by the evidence.
Free, confidential consultation. Available 24/7 in English and Spanish.
Call 866-597-4529Send us a messageDOHSA is a federal law that governs wrongful death claims when a death is caused by a wrongful act or negligence on the high seas, more than three nautical miles from the U.S. shore.
The personal representative of the person who died brings the claim for the benefit of the spouse, parents, children or dependent relatives.
DOHSA generally limits recovery to financial losses such as lost support, services and funeral expenses. Damages for grief and loss of companionship are generally not available, except in some commercial aviation cases.
Maritime wrongful death claims generally must be filed within three years, but cruise ticket contracts often shorten the deadline to one year.
Nothing up front. Aronfeld Trial Lawyers works on a contingency fee: No Recovery. No Fee. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
Tell us what happened. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover for you — no attorney’s fees and no costs.
Sending this form doesn’t make you a client or create an attorney-client relationship. Please don’t include confidential details until we’ve spoken.
