In a Louisiana wrongful death case, a family can recover both financial losses, like lost income and funeral costs, and personal losses, like the loss of love, companionship, and guidance. No two cases carry the same value, because the law measures each family member's own loss individually.
This guide explains the categories in plain language, and is honest about the limits of what any attorney can tell you at the start.
The financial losses
These are the damages that can be added up, at least in principle:
- Loss of financial support. What the person who died would have earned and contributed to the family over their working life. For a wage earner with dependents, this is often the largest single component.
- Loss of household services. The childcare, repairs, transportation, and daily work the person provided. Courts recognize that replacing these costs real money.
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Medical expenses from the final injury, which typically flow through the related survival action.
Calculating lifetime support is not guesswork. It involves work history, earnings records, and often economists. It is one reason these cases should be built carefully rather than settled quickly.
The losses money measures imperfectly
Louisiana law also compensates what cannot be added up:
- Loss of love, affection, and companionship
- Loss of guidance, particularly for children who lose a parent
- The family member's own grief and mental anguish
The law does not pretend money replaces a person. These damages exist because the civil justice system has only one remedy to offer, and the law chooses to recognize the loss rather than ignore it.
The survival action adds the deceased's own damages
If the person survived the injury for any period, their own pain and suffering, fear, and medical bills become part of the case through the survival action under Civil Code article 2315.1.
Each family member's claim is valued separately
A spouse, an adult child, and a minor child do not have interchangeable claims. Each qualifying family member recovers for their own relationship and their own loss. That is also why settlements are not automatically split evenly.
What shapes the value of a case
Several factors move these cases significantly:
- The closeness and nature of each relationship
- Financial dependence on the person who died
- The circumstances of the death, including any period of survival
- Fault. Louisiana is an at-fault state. For accidents since January 1, 2026, a family can recover if the person who died was 50% or less at fault, with the award reduced by that share; at 51% or more, there is no recovery. Accidents before that date fall under the old pure comparative fault rule, which reduced an award by the share of fault but did not bar it.
- The insurance coverage and assets actually available to pay a judgment
That last point is uncomfortable but honest: the responsible party's insurance often sets the practical ceiling of a case, and identifying every available policy is part of the work.
What no attorney can promise
No honest attorney can tell you at a first meeting what your case is worth. Anyone who promises a number that early is guessing, and you should treat the promise accordingly.
What a firm can show you is its record. The Law Offices of Chip Forstall's published results include a $4,000,000 wrongful death settlement. Every case is different, and advertising does not indicate a guarantee of results. What the record shows is that the firm builds these cases to be taken seriously.
A conversation, not a commitment
Understanding what your family's claim includes costs nothing. Chip Forstall has served New Orleans for nearly 50 years, and the first conversation is free, unhurried, and without obligation.
Call 504-483-3400 for a free case review. There is no upfront cost and no fee unless we win. Se habla español.