Trial Attorneys Take on Loss of Consortium in California

There is an eclectic system in each state concerning the "Loss of Consortium" laws. However, most of the state's jurisdictions give permission to wives and husbands of those who have been victims, usually in a personal injury case, to recover damages due to loss of consortium.

This is actually a form of "non-economic damage" wherein a partner in a domestic partnership or marriage may be given special rights to recover compensation after the other partner has been a victim of wrongful death or severe personal injury.

This means, that aside from the actual victim's pursuance of a personal injury case against the parties liable for the accident or defective products he/she had been involved in or taken that resulted in severe injuries, the victim's spouse, if the jurisdiction permits it, can also sue the liable parties. The spouse's case would be a claim for compensation on the loss of consortium he/she suffered that resulted from the victim's injuries. 

The usual legal action done in cases of loss of consortium comes from the uninjured spouse. He/she will file a case against the defendant for damages consequential from his/her inability to enjoy or feel the same warmth and companionship she had enjoyed or felt before his/her spouse sustained injuries. These kind of legal claims usually arise whenever a spouse become severely injured, even killed as an aftermath of another party's wrongful/intentional acts and/or negligence.

The Basics

The conventional wisdom regarding loss of consortium is the losses that are suffered by the other spouse that results to the limited or decreased sexual activity after the injury of the other.

Realistically though, more implications are covered by this term. The damages sought to be compensated by an uninjured spouse is centered on the aftereffects of the injury on spousal functions that previously existed between the partners.

Given this, aside from deprivation or limitation in sexual relations, the claimant spouse who filed loss of consortium usually bids for compensation for the deprivation or loss of the following:

-          Emotional care and support

-          Companionship

-          Affection

-          Domestic services (e.g. caring for the small children, share in household chores)

-          Love

-          Comfort

-          Society

These are among the terms covered in filing a loss of consortium claim, connoting that there are broader matters concerning this clause.

Damages

Since damages because of loss of consortium are non-economic, there is no defined monetary loss in this kind of cases. The claim also has no tangible cash value. As such, in cases that involved claims for loss of consortium, the jury or judge are given the discretion to determine the award to be given to the victim in case such claim has been established. 

Loss of consortium in California

In California, a loss of consortium claim has a prerequisite of valid marriage. A court in California declared that absence of a valid marital relationship means that no such right exists.

Moreover, instructions to a California jury have explicit definitions of the loss of consortium, which is the "loss of [the spouse's] love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace or moral support; any loss or enjoyment of sexual relations or the ability to have children or any loss of the [the spouse's] physical assistance in the operation and maintenance of the home…"

Trial attorneys in California keep this in mind and analyze a personal injury case more thoroughly before introducing such claim from a spouse of a victim suing for personal injury and/or wrongful death.

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