# How Much is a Dead Kid Worth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788 "2010-10-20T15:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/1 "2010-10-20T15:39:33Z")
I worked myself into a nice rage at work today reading about some kid who was bullied into suicide in Texas. But having calmed down, I have a practical question. Assuming the child was ten years old, he was a straight-A student. Assume the school district cannot mount a reasonable defense. They screwed up and the jury knows it. Assume a worst-case scenario for the school board. \*\*How much could the family expect to get for a dead ten-year-old? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/2 "2010-10-20T15:50:29Z")
Non-GQ opinion answer: _ **Not enough** _. Giving them the entire state treasury and fee simple ownership of every parcel of property the state owns is inadequate compensation for having lost a kid through official inaction. GQ answer: There are formularies, varying from state to state, to determine what is an appropriate award in a wrongful death lawsuit. I don’t happen to know Texas’s formula, and I’d be interested to find out the numerical answer. But the whole point to torts generally, and wrongful death suits in particular, is to penalize the tortfeasors and (inadequately) compensate the victims (or their heirs) for what they have lost through commission of the tort. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/3 "2010-10-20T15:51:16Z")
Well, if you assumed that he went to college and started workign when he was 22 years old, making 70,000 per year, and that he averaged a 4% raise every year and worked until he was 64 years old, and then you took the stream of cash flows from his salary and discounted it back to present value assuming a discount rate of 5%, then the present value of his future salary would be about $1.38 million dollars. Of course, this ignores the costs of living that he would incur and the effect of taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/4 "2010-10-20T15:54:29Z")
I suspect, although I do not know, that Texas has some version of a Tort Claims Act, which will cap damages that can be awarded against any governmental entity. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/5 "2010-10-21T01:07:02Z")
It is not often a question stumps the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Ocardowin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ccd318/32.png) [@Ocardowin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocardowin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/6 "2010-10-21T02:14:19Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I worked myself into a nice rage at work today reading about some kid who was bullied into suicide in Texas. But having calmed down, I have a practical question. > > Assuming the child was ten years old, he was a straight-A student. Assume the school district cannot mount a reasonable defense. They screwed up and the jury knows it. Assume a worst-case scenario for the school board. > > \*\*How much could the family expect to get for a dead ten-year-old? \*\* Impossible to put a $ amount on it really. Depends on the jurisdiction, but they could get wrongful death based on things like loss of companionship. From Green v. Bittner (NJ 1980) > [@](#): > > We hold that when parents sue for the wrongful death of their child, damages > should not be limited to the well-known elements of pecuniary loss such as the > loss of the child’s anticipated help with household chores, or the loss of > anticipated direct financial contributions by the child after he or she becomes a > wage earner. We hold that in addition, the jury should be allowed, under > appropriate circumstances, to award damages for the parents’ loss of their child’s > companionship as they grow older, when it may be most needed and valuable, as > well as the advice and guidance that often accompanies it. As noted later, these > other losses will be confined to their pecuniary value, excluding emotional loss. I think there’s some other cases that say to value this, they look at the average child, unless the plaintiff can prove particular above-average traits. I could be wrong though and I can’t remember the case (someone v. Andrews or Andrews v. someone dealing with a one-day old infant). Can also get emotional harm damages. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/7 "2010-10-21T14:53:57Z")
The websites of personal-injury plaintiffs’ firms will often show some of their largest verdicts or settlements, some of which will involve wrongful death of a child. [This one](http://jjelaw.com/verdicts_settlements.shtml) involves negligent supervision of a child by a school district and reports “$18,400,000 settlement from a school district on behalf of a 15 year old who was rendered a quadriplegic when he engaged in “horseplay” on the athletic field…” Others are not school specific but involve medical malpractice, car accidents, etc. [This one](http://www.californiainjurylawyersblog.com/2009/05/14-million-southern-california-wrongful-death-verdict-to-parents-of-4-year-old-that-drowned-at-athle.html): $16.3MM. [This one](http://www.keenanlawfirm.com/our-verdicts/): $3.5MM (and $8MM in a different case for a forceps injury). [This one](http://www.anapolschwartz.com/practices/wrongful-death/verdicts.asp): $2.1MM, $1.1MM. [This one](http://www.commanderpound.com/lawyer-attorney-1470107.html): $3.75MM. [This one](http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472523487): $10.2MM. [This one](http://www.randbllp.com/CM/Custom/Verdicts-Settlements.html): $3.2MM. [This one](http://www.hinkleforan.com/verdicts-a-settlements.html): $1.5MM. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/8 "2010-10-21T14:58:59Z")
So five million would be doing pretty good then? Even that would depend on Texas law which may cap payments. In any case, i suppose it would come from the district’s insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/9 "2010-10-21T15:00:06Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > [This one](http://jjelaw.com/verdicts_settlements.shtml) involves negligent supervision of a child by a school district and reports “$18,400,000 settlement from a school district on behalf of a 15 year old who was rendered a quadriplegic when he engaged in “horseplay” on the athletic field…” That arguably costs more than death, because you would have to pay for the care of the 15 year old for the remainder of their life. So a different kind of calculus applies for a permanent disability like that. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/10 "2010-10-21T15:02:55Z")
Out of curiosity, are you talking about Asher Brown? ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/11 "2010-10-21T15:06:34Z")
I was told I wouldn’t get much for my kid since no potential had been realized. I used to insure her when she traveled alone. **Darth Panda**'s example would be moot. Likewise if the kid lost an arm there wouldn’t be much payout compared to an adult bricklayer who would have proof of the earning ability of the limb. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/12 "2010-10-21T15:16:36Z")
I was a straight A student and I’ve never earned more that $26,000 a year. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-is-a-dead-kid-worth/557788/13 "2010-10-21T15:46:36Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Out of curiosity, are you talking about Asher Brown? Yep