Section 4.17 Apportionment and Distribution

• Library: Settling Cases 2014

A wrongful death claim for damages is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the court only determines the total damages to be awarded. In the second stage, the court determines how much each individual beneficiary receives. The first stage concludes once the court has granted approval of the settlement. See Denton v. Soonattrukal, 149 S.W.3d 517, 520 (Mo. App. S.D. 2004). Until that point, the beneficiaries have had one indivisible interest rather than separate interests that can be divided. See Teeter v. Mo. Highway & Transp. Comm’n, 891 S.W.2d 817, 819 (Mo. banc 1995).

In the second stage, however, the court must “enter a judgment as to such damages, apportioning them among those persons entitled thereto in proportion to the losses suffered by each as determined by the court.” Denton, 149 S.W.3d at 520 (quoting...