E. Damages

• Library: Elements of Civil Causes of Action (SCBar) (2021 Ed.)

E. Damages

Damages in a wrongful death case are not determined by the value of the life lost, but by the damages suffered by the beneficiaries.⁵⁰ The beneficiaries may recover:

... all damages, present and prospective, which are naturally the proximate consequence of the wrongful act including: (1) pecuniary loss, (2) mental shock and suffering, (3) wounded feelings, (4) grief and sorrow, (5) loss of companionship, and (6) deprivation of the use and comfort of the intestate's society including the loss of his experience, knowledge, and judgment in managing the affairs of himself and his beneficiaries.⁵¹

The plaintiff must show evidence of any pecuniary loss to recover it as an element of damages, but where there is no pecuniary loss, other damages are still recoverable.⁵² Punitive damages may be awarded in a wrongful death action.⁵³

The court has held that evidence of remarriage of a surviving spouse or separation prior to death and subsequent remarriage are inadmissible on the issue of damages.⁵⁴ By statute, damages to parents of a deceased child may be denied or limited where it is determined that a parent failed to reasonably provide support for the decedent and did not otherwise provide for the child's needs during his or her minority.⁵⁵

An extramarital affair by the plaintiff might be considered relevant to assessing the damages that he or she sustained for the loss of society and companionship, however, where the plaintiff had an affair two to three years before his wife's death, and no evidence suggested more affairs occurred or were occurring at the time of her death and the couple remained married after the husband confessed the affair to his wife, the trial court correctly concluded the probative value of the evidence was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect.⁵⁶

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Notes:

^[50] Smith v. Wells, 258 S.C. 316, 188 S.E.2d 470, 471 (1972). See also Zorn v. Crawford, 252 S.C. 127, 165 S.E.2d 640 (1969); Welch v. Epstein, 342 S.C. 279...