Losing a family member because of someone else’s negligence is devastating. On top of grief, families face sudden financial pressure, lost income, medical bills, and funeral costs. Florida law gives surviving family members the right to pursue compensation, and understanding what those damages look like is the first step toward justice.
At Lusko Law, we help Pensacola families understand exactly what they’re owed under Florida’s wrongful death statute, and we fight to recover every dollar.
What Florida Law Says About Wrongful Death Compensation
Florida’s wrongful death statute outlines specific categories of recoverable damages depending on who the surviving family members are.
According to Florida Statute §768.21, eligible survivors generally include a surviving spouse, minor children (or all children if there is no surviving spouse), and parents of a deceased minor child. Certain other relatives may only recover if they can prove dependency on the deceased for support or services under Florida law.
Each survivor class can recover different damages:
- Surviving spouse: Loss of companionship, protection, and mental pain and suffering
- Minor children: Loss of parental companionship, instruction, guidance, and mental pain and suffering
- Parents of a deceased minor: Mental pain and suffering
- The estate: Lost earnings the deceased would have accumulated, medical expenses prior to death, and funeral costs
These categories matter because the strength of your recovery depends heavily on who survived and the financial role the deceased played in the family.
Economic Damages: The Financial Reality of Loss
Economic damages in a Florida wrongful death claim are calculable losses tied directly to money. These include the income the deceased would have earned over their working lifetime, benefits like health insurance or retirement contributions, and the value of services they provided at home.
For a younger professional in Pensacola who was a primary earner, this calculation can reach well into the millions. Our team works with financial experts to project those numbers accurately, not to estimate low, and not to leave anything on the table.
As Pensacola’s trial-tested wrongful death attorneys, Lusko Law brings the same approach to damages calculations that has produced multi-million dollar verdicts in Escambia County.
Non-Economic Damages: Compensating the Human Cost of Loss
Florida law recognizes that financial loss is only part of what families suffer. Non-economic damages cover the human cost: loss of companionship, emotional pain, and loss of guidance for children who will grow up without a parent.
These damages are harder to quantify, but they are real and recoverable. Insurance companies routinely undervalue them. Having a Pensacola wrongful death lawyer who has taken cases to trial and won sends a clear signal that a lowball offer won’t end the case.
How Lusko Law Approaches Your Case
Lusko Law handles every wrongful death case with personal attention. Justin Lusko meets directly with families, listens carefully, and builds a strategy tailored to the specific facts of their loss.
If your family is navigating this process in Pensacola, contact our lawyers for wrongful death claims at info@luskolaw.com or (850) 308-4011 for a free, no-obligation consultation. We’re here to help you understand what you’re owed and fight to get it.