This is perhaps the most technical question. Before we begin, it is helpful to remember that a wrongful death claim is a civil claim so the only damages you will receive is monetary compensation. This claim will not put anybody in jail. That being said, there are two types of damages you can seek, compensatory damages and punitive damages. As the name may suggest, compensatory damages are meant to compensate you for any financial losses or emotional anguish you might suffer. Punitive damages (sometimes called exemplary damages), however, are intended to punish the person who inflicted that loss. Punitive damages may only be sought in the most egregious of cases: if the person who caused your loved one’s death acted recklessly or intentionally. We will be talking first about compensatory damages.

In a Colorado wrongful death case, as the plaintiff, you may recover compensatory damages for a variety of reasons. Some obvious examples are for your loved one’s burial expenses, your grief and mental anguish, and your loss of your loved one’s companionship (called loss of consortium). Additionally, you may recover damages equivalent to the financial support your loved one would have provided you. Importantly, this does not mean your loved one’s total expected earnings, just the earnings you would have been provided. For example, if your loved-one’s income was paying for your food, house, or insurance, you may be able to recover money to compensate you for those losses.

As we discussed above, non-economic or incalculable damages are different from economic or calculable damages. In Colorado, the limit on the amount of money you can receive for non-economic damages such as grief, mental anguish, and loss of consortium is set by the legislature as part of the wrongful death statute. It is adjusted for inflation every two years so if your incident occurred before January 1st, 2020, the cap is $436,070. If it occurred after January 1st, 2020, the cap is $571,870. For the calculable financial expenses such as burial expenses, lost financial support, and medical expenses, there is no cap – you are entitled to recover all that you lost.

All the above applies to compensatory damages only. Punitive or exemplary damages, which are intended not to compensate you for your losses but rather to punish the one who inflicted those losses, may also be sought. However, the circumstances under which you can recover are limited. Colorado’s Exemplary Damages statute is found under 13-21-102 of the Colorado Revised Statutes. It states that you can only recover exemplary damages for circumstances of “fraud, malice, or willful and wanton conduct.” You might hear this referred to as a “standard of conduct.” The statute says that if your case entails an intentional false representation of a matter (fraud), someone who caused harm or death with the desire or intention to do so (malice), or a person who, despite knowing of a risk, acted with a reckless disregard for your loved one’s life (willful and wanton conduct), you can pursue exemplary damages. In these most egregious cases, the legislature has concluded that it is important to deter the perpetrator of the act by imposing these additional damages.

However, the court does not take the infliction of a punishment lightly. So, if you want to pursue exemplary damages, the judge alone must decide if the evidence you present suggests the standard of conduct outlined above is met before a jury can ever consider the matter. The evidence required for this initial determination is called prima facie proof. If you are awarded exemplary damages, they cannot exceed three times the amount of your compensatory damages. In the end, the amount of damages you ultimately receive is entirely dependent on the facts of your case, and while we hope this information is helpful for you, it is still important to seek legal advice on these issues.