As a hard-working professional, you may have relied on your stay-at-home spouse to handle many family matters. Maybe you have young children who received around-the-clock support from your spouse.
Perhaps you have aging parents who live with you, and your spouse served as a caregiver. Maybe you simply have a very demanding career, and your spouse managed the house and your personal life.
You may already know that wrongful death lawsuits help people address the economic impact of losing an immediate family member. Can you take legal action if your spouse, who recently died prematurely, didn’t financially contribute to the household?
Unpaid work has economic value
Obviously, you appreciated your spouse’s work on a personal and emotional level. What you may not understand is that there is an objective financial value attached to their unpaid services.
Economic experts estimate that the typical stay-at-home parent provides more than $1,000 in services to their family every week. In cases involving exceptional services, such as caring for multiple children who are not old enough to attend preschool yet, a stay-at-home spouse could provide services that carried a value far above the average.
Provided that there is evidence that the wrongful acts or negligence of an outside party caused your spouse’s passing, you may be able to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit seeking compensation for the economic loss related to their services and also the non-economic losses you may suffer as a grieving spouse.
Reviewing what led to your recent loss might help you gauge the strength of your legal position and estimate your losses. Pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit could provide you with closure and could help the family cover the expenses generated by your recent family tragedy.