Wrongful Death Damages Lawyer in Jacksonville, FL Losses, Dependents and Claim Terms

Each survivor recovers a different list

Section 768.21 begins with lost support and services, from the date of injury to death with interest and forward from the death reduced to present value. In valuing that, the statute allows the relationship, the decedent's probable net income available for distribution to that survivor, and the replacement value of the services to be considered, along with joint life expectancies and the period of minority.

Noneconomic categories are assigned person by person. A surviving spouse may recover for lost companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Minor children, and all children where no spouse survives, may recover lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance plus their own mental pain and suffering. Each parent of a deceased minor child may recover for mental pain and suffering, and each parent of an adult child may do so only if no other survivors exist. A survivor who paid medical or funeral bills recovers those.

The estate's column, and what shrinks it

The representative recovers separately for the estate. That includes lost earnings from injury to death, less lost support of survivors and excluding contributions in kind, with interest. It also includes prospective net accumulations, reduced to present value, where the survivors include a spouse or lineal descendants, or where the decedent was not a minor child, no lost support is recoverable, and a parent survives. Medical and funeral expenses that became a charge against the estate belong here too.

Two limits sit in the same section. Estate awards are subject to the claims of creditors who complied with probate law. Evidence of the surviving spouse's remarriage is admissible, which is a defense tool rather than a footnote.

Who counts as a survivor, and the age line inside the definition

Section 768.18 recognizes a spouse, children, and parents, plus blood relatives and adopted siblings who were partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services. Minor children means children under 25 here, which is not the age used in most other contexts. Section 768.20 then requires that the single action be brought by the personal representative, and the complaint must identify all potential beneficiaries, the estate included, and allege each relationship.

Getting that list wrong is expensive in both directions. A dependent relative left off the pleading may be left out of an apportionment. A relative added without documented dependency invites a fight that delays everyone else's share.

What reduces the number before anyone argues about value

Two rules cut before valuation. Under section 768.81, contributory fault reduces economic and noneconomic damages proportionately, and since the 2023 amendments a party more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm recovers nothing. Damages are also apportioned against each liable party by percentage of fault rather than jointly.

Where a government body is responsible, section 768.28 caps payment at $200,000 for one person and $300,000 for all claims arising from the same incident, with anything beyond that payable only by a legislative claim bill. The 2026 attempt to lift those figures, HB 145, passed both chambers and was vetoed on June 30, 2026, so the caps stand where they have long stood.

Finding out what coverage exists

Guesswork about policy limits is unnecessary. Section 627.4137 obliges each liability insurer, on written request, to provide a sworn statement within 30 days giving its name, each insured, the limits of coverage, any coverage defense it reasonably believes available, and a copy of the policy. Excess and umbrella policies are covered, and the insured or the agent must identify known insurers and forward the request.

Approval, apportionment, and money that belongs to a child

A settlement in a death case is not always the family's decision alone. Section 768.25 requires court approval of the amount or the apportionment whenever a survivor objects, or where a survivor who is a minor or incompetent is affected. Under section 768.26, the representative pays fees and litigation expenses from the recovery, deducted from each survivor's award and the estate's award in proportion, except expenses incurred for a single survivor.

Children's money has its own gate. Section 744.387 lets a natural guardian settle a claim up to $15,000 without bond, and a larger net amount requires appointment of a guardian of the property. The Duval County Clerk lists guardianship and probate charges alongside the $401 formal administration fee, and someone has to advance them.

Where the file sits, and how the fee is calculated

Duval County belongs to the Fourth Judicial Circuit, whose courthouse stands at 501 West Adams Street and which also serves Clay and Nassau. A death just south of the county line falls instead to the Seventh Judicial Circuit bench, covering Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia. Venue depends on where the event happened and where the defendants are, not on where the family lives.

Fees run on a published sliding scale that steps down as a recovery grows, rises once an answer is filed, and can be exceeded only with court approval sought by the client. Because section 768.26 spreads the fee across the awards, the apportionment among survivors changes what each person nets. The pricing page here sets out every tier and the probate charges that come with a death claim.