Author: Queensland. Law Reform Commission

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 88

ISBN-13:

Where one person wrongfully causes the death of another, an action may be brought for the benefit of certain relatives of the deceased. In a wrongful death action, damages may be claimed on behalf of those relatives for the loss of financial support and the loss of services that they may suffer as a result of the death. The terms of reference included a review of the practice of discounting a surviving spouse's damages for the possibility that the spouse's relationship with the deceased may have come to a premature end or for the prospect that the spouse may enter a new financially supportive relationship. The terms of reference also called for a consideration of these issues in relation to a claim by a dependent child of the deceased.