It's hard to go online, watch television, or listen to the radio without running into an attorney hollering about "getting you the compensation you're owed," but that's never as simple as they (loudly) make it sound. After a fatal commercial truck accident, compensation isn't just a matter of filling out a few forms. Instead, families and their attorneys generally must file a lawsuit which alleges wrongdoing and requests compensation. What forms of compensation are available to fatal truck accident victims' families?

Answer: After a fatal Texas truck accident, the victim's family may seek compensation for Mental Anguish of Beneficiaries, Pecuniary Loss, Loss of Companionship and Society, Loss of Household Services, Loss of Inheritance, Funeral Expenses, and Exemplary Damages.

In this article we'll explain in plain language each category of damages—but before we get to that, let's quickly address which family members may be eligible to seek them in a lawsuit.

Who Can Receive Damages in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Texas wrongful death claims are governed by the Texas Wrongful Death Act. This statute specifically names those with the legal standing to file a wrongful death claim: spouses, children, and parents. This means parties like siblings, cousins, unmarried long-term partners, grandparents, and others cannot file a claim.

That isn't to imply that other relationships aren't valuable or important, it's just that Texas law doesn't offer other relatives the ability to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Those with the legal right to do so still need to know what kinds of losses they can sue for, so let's discuss those.

What Kinds of Compensation Could a Plaintiff Seek?

Financial compensation is how courts acknowledge, and provide redress for, someone's loss at the hands of another. It is of course a poor substitute for a lost loved one, but it's the only available remedy for the hardships following a wrongful death.

Securing damages against the negligent trucking company isn't just a matter of demanding a particular number; instead, the Texas law only recognizes certain types of damages as eligible for compensation in a wrongful death case. Let's take a closer look at that types of damages recognized by Texas courts.

Mental Anguish of Beneficiaries

Injury isn't always measured in bruises and bandages; the loss of a loved one can also be devastating to their family's emotional well-being. The damage may not be physical, but it can be severe and long-lasting.

Mental anguish damages in a wrongful death lawsuit are mostly based on the perceived nature of the plaintiff's relationship to the victim. For example, suppose a child dies in a truck accident. Under Texas law, both the mother and father may bring wrongful death claims and seek to recover compensation for the mental anguish of losing a child. In this particular situation, the father left when the child was just a baby and other than a birthday card here or there, hasn't really had much to do with the child. On the other hand, Mom raised this kid all by herself and was there throughout the child's life. Would it be right for the mother and father in this situation to receive equal compensation for their mental anguish? The answer is obvious. While it's terrible to lose a child regardless of how involved a parent was, it pales in comparison to the loss of a mother who gave everything she had to her child.

Or to take another example: Tom and Beckett each lose a mother in separate truck accidents. Tom is a married man with kids in his 40s, while Beckett is a 3-year-old in preschool. Again, someone will feel the hurt of losing a mother regardless of age, but in Tom's case he at least had the benefit of growing up with his. Young Beckett wholly loses that opportunity, and most juries would be far more likely to award more for Beckett's mental anguish than Tom's.

The fact that the closeness of the relationship to the deceased person impacts the value of mental anguish damages also allows trucking company defense attorneys to try to limit compensation by arguing that the claimant and the victim were not as close as most people would assume. These tactics can get pretty sleazy, but they're not unbeatable.

While mental anguish addresses the emotional pain of losing a loved one, families also face tangible financial hardships, which are covered under the category of pecuniary loss.

Pecuniary Loss

A loved one's death creates tremendous psychological strain, but in many cases it also may cause serious financial hardships for those left behind. A lawsuit may seek to partially or fully cover those expenses by seeking pecuniary losses. These financial damages aim to lessen the strain placed on families in such situations, and typically include things like:

• Loss of Financial Support - Compensation for the income the victim would have earned and contributed to their family over their expected lifetime.
• Loss of Benefits - This includes the value of lost health insurance, retirement benefits, pension plans, or other employment-related benefits.
• Medical Expenses - Costs related to medical treatment the victim received as a result of the accident before their passing.

All of these losses generally have objective dollar values, which can be shown through documents and expert testimony. Trucking companies and insurers may argue with the valuations, but on the whole this category of damages revolves around concrete figures. Families may also seek compensation for the personal and emotional harm caused by the loss of their close relationship with the accident victim.

Loss of Companionship and Society

Often referred to as loss of consortium, this is a type of non-economic damage that generally refers to the loss of love, companionship, and support that the deceased person provided in a relationship with the plaintiff. For a spouse, that might include the loss of emotional intimacy, affection, and comfort. For children, it could mean the loss of parental guidance, care, presence, and nurturing.

These losses aren't about money in the traditional sense, as they don’t have associated receipts or bills to suggest a specific cost incurred. However, they have a deep emotional and practical impact on the lives of surviving family members. Texas courts acknowledge that close relationships have value, and when a loved one is suddenly taken away, the people left behind suffer in ways that go beyond financial hardship.

While loss of consortium captures the emotional and relational impact of a loved one’s death, families may also experience practical losses, such as the end of the victim's contributions to running the household.

Loss of Household Services

Courts recognize that the work a person does at home has real value, even if they weren’t earning a paycheck for it. If they die unexpectedly, their family loses not only a loved one, but also a contributor to the million everyday tasks a household requires, like cooking, cleaning, yard work, driving kids to school, caring for them at home, helping elderly relatives, and many others. If the survivors are stretched so thin that they must hire someone to help with those tasks, the added cost and burden of doing so may be considered a financial loss in a wrongful death claim. For example, if a stay-at-home parent passes away, the surviving spouse might now need to pay for childcare or housekeeping while they work to support the family.

By calculating the cost of replacing lost household services, either through market rates or expert testimony, the court can help ensure that the family is compensated fairly for this sometimes-overlooked but important part of their loss. In addition to the value of those everyday tasks, families might also suffer long-term financial setbacks—such as the loss of an expected inheritance their loved one would have left for them.

Loss of Inheritance

Loss of inheritance as a category of damages is meant to compensate surviving family members—often children or a spouse—for the value of what they reasonably would have inherited from the victim's estate if not for the unexpected accident.

For example, if a parent in their 40s was killed in a truck accident and had a documented history of saving or building wealth, the family's attorney might argue that the pattern would have continued until the end of the parent's life. The court might look at factors like the victim’s age, earning potential, savings habits, and expected lifespan to estimate how much the heirs would have likely received, and the family might be entitled to damages based on that evaluation.

These damages are a way of recognizing that wrongful death doesn’t just take away immediate income and support—it also disrupts the long-term financial legacy a person might have left behind. Of course, the family may also have to deal with more immediate and unavoidable costs, such as paying for the funeral of their loved one.

Funeral Expenses

When someone dies unexpectedly, their loved ones are often left to cover the costs of a funeral, burial, or cremation. These logistical choices are already very difficult for a grieving family, and the financial hardships they can cause only compound that as they tend to build up quickly.

In a wrongful death lawsuit, the family can ask to be reimbursed for these costs. The idea is simple: if the accident hadn’t happened, they wouldn’t have had to pay for a funeral at that time. By including funeral expenses in the case, the family can reduce the financial burden of saying goodbye to their loved one.

Exemplary Damages

Also known as punitive damages, exemplary damages are a special category of compensation beyond those we talked about previously, which fall under another category known as actual damages.

Exemplary damages aren't meant to cover specific losses like medical bills or funeral costs. Instead, they're meant to punish the wrongdoer for especially reckless, malicious, or grossly negligent behavior.

Example: Steve is killed in a highway collision with an 18-wheeler. While investigating on behalf of Steve's family, their attorney learns the trucker was highly intoxicated behind the wheel. That's already a serious offense, but digging a little deeper the attorney finds the trucker had multiple DUI's on his record. Any reasonable trucking company would never have hired him, but his employer did anyway. When they knowingly allowed a habitual offender to operate a 40-ton truck on their behalf, the attorney tells a jury, that company was grossly negligent.

To receive exemplary damages in Texas, plaintiffs must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant acted with "willful and wanton negligence." That's a much higher standard than for regular damages, and it's far more rare for juries to award exemplary damages. They are reserved for situations where the defendant's actions showed a dangerous disregard for the safety and rights of others. When awarded, these damages are meant to serve both as serious punishment to the defendant and a stern warning to anyone else who might follow in their footsteps.

That's a short overview of the most common types of damages families and their attorneys might seek in a truck accident wrongful death case. However, calling them "common" doesn't mean all of them are pursued in every single truck accident lawsuit.

Not Every Type of Compensation Applies in Every Case

Some might not immediately understand why a plaintiff's attorney wouldn't pursue every possible kind of compensation on their client's behalf. Even if damages are categorized as we described above, why not just go for every single one? Because a jury may not feel that all those damages apply, and it's important for a plaintiff's reach not to exceed their grasp.

For instance, if a couple filed a wrongful death lawsuit for the death of their child, it would look absurd for them to seek loss of inheritance damages, as parents don't typically inherit from their children.

Also, if a family seeks damages in a category to which they are not necessarily entitled that overreach could damage the credibility of their case in the eyes of a jury. On the other hand, if they don't recognize and pursue damages they may be entitled to (e.g. only asking for pecuniary damages when they may deserve compensation for loss of consortium or loss of household services), they risk not holding the trucking company fully accountable for the losses they've sustained.

What a family is entitled to will depend on the details of the accident, their relationship to the victim, and the evidence they can present—all of which are crucial aspects of a case that they most likely don't have the training or resources to put together. An attorney can be an invaluable ally in assembling that case and convincingly arguing it in court.

Grossman Law is Here to Help

As you can see, obtaining compensation after losing a loved one in a truck accident is far more difficult than showing up to court and collecting a check. Lawsuits are complex undertakings, and that goes double or more for one involving a commercial vehicle. Trucking companies and their insurers have a lot to lose, and whichever combination of damages a family claims they must be ready for the company to dispute every single one. People who are already struggling with a difficult loss shouldn't walk that rough road alone.

The truck accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have decades of experience helping accident victims and their families through the arduous process of litigation. Our experienced attorneys investigate the accident carefully, then help you determine which damages a jury is most likely to award based on the facts of the case. If you were hurt or lost a loved one in an accident with a commercial vehicle, reach out to Grossman Law any time, day or night, for a free and confidential consultation.