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Wrongful Death Damages in Illinois

When someone dies because of another person’s wrongful act, neglect, or default, the family may have an Illinois wrongful death case. Illinois law allows the surviving family to recover two categories of damages: economic loss and non-economic loss. Both are compensable under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/2. A third category—pre-death pain and suffering—is recoverable through a separate Survival Act count under 755 ILCS 5/27-6.

This page explains what damages are recoverable. It explains how they are calculated. It explains how the court allocates them among surviving family members.

What damages can the family recover in an Illinois wrongful death case?

The Illinois Wrongful Death Act allows recovery for:

  • Pecuniary loss: lost financial support, lost household services, lost benefits, and lost gifts or contributions the decedent would have provided
  • Loss of society: the family’s loss of the decedent’s love, affection, companionship, guidance, and care
  • Grief and mental suffering: the emotional impact of the loss on each surviving family member
  • Funeral and burial expenses: typically handled through the estate or Family Expense Act
  • Punitive damages: available in some cases, but barred in medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and claims against government defendants

A separate Survival Act count allows recovery for the decedent’s pre-death conscious pain and suffering. It also covers pre-death medical expenses and pre-death lost earnings.

Pecuniary Loss — Lost Financial Support and Services

Pecuniary loss is the economic harm the surviving family sustained because of the death. It has been the core of the Wrongful Death Act since the statute was enacted. It remains the largest dollar component in many cases.

Lost financial support

Lost financial support is the income the decedent would have provided to the surviving spouse and minor children. The calculation covers the decedent’s remaining work-life expectancy. Calculation requires:

  • The decedent’s recent earnings (W-2s, 1099s, tax returns)
  • Projected earnings trajectory (career path, expected promotions, retirement timing)
  • The share of income that supported the household versus the decedent’s personal consumption
  • Reduction to present cash value under Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions 34.02

A forensic economist ties the decedent’s pre-death earning pattern to a projected future earnings stream. The economist discounts it to present value. In Richardson v. Chapman, 175 Ill. 2d 98 (1997), the Illinois Supreme Court allowed the total-offset method in that case’s upper-bound proof. The IPI committee does not mandate one present-value method over another.

Lost household services

The decedent’s contribution to household services is recoverable as pecuniary loss. This is true even where the decedent was not a wage-earner. Household services include childcare, eldercare, household maintenance, family logistics, and transportation. They also include financial and household decision-making. Forensic economist testimony quantifies the replacement value of lost services. The economist uses accepted valuation methodologies for the relevant labor market.

Lost benefits

Health insurance, pension contributions, and employer-provided housing are recoverable. Employer-provided vehicle and similar non-cash compensation the decedent received are also recoverable. The calculation includes benefits the decedent would have continued receiving. Benefits valuation typically pulls employer benefits statements and retirement-plan projections. It also uses actuarial-estimate methodologies.

Lost gifts and contributions

The Wrongful Death Act recognizes recovery for gifts and contributions the decedent made or would have made to other relatives. This includes relatives who are not the primary next-of-kin beneficiary class. Documented history of contributions supports the lost-contributions component. This includes financial assistance, in-kind contributions, and payment of tuition or other family expenses.

Loss of Society and Grief

The Illinois Supreme Court resolved the loss-of-society question in Bullard v. Barnes, 102 Ill. 2d 505 (1984). Loss of society is recoverable under the Wrongful Death Act. The decision substantially expanded the non-economic damages recoverable in Illinois wrongful-death cases.

What loss of society includes

Loss of society includes the surviving family’s loss of the decedent’s love, affection, companionship, guidance, and consortium. The category captures the relational void rather than economic dependency. Loss of society is typically the largest single damages category in cases involving young families. The surviving spouse and minor children lose decades of relational presence.

Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions 31.11 defines loss of society. It is “the mutual benefits that each family member receives from the other’s continued existence.” This includes love, affection, care, attention, companionship, comfort, guidance, and protection.

Grief and mental suffering

Grief, sorrow, and mental suffering of the surviving family are recoverable under 740 ILCS 180/2(a). The category captures the emotional impact of the loss on each beneficiary. Testimony from each surviving beneficiary establishes the grief category. Where helpful, treating mental-health-professional testimony also supports it.

No statutory cap

Illinois does not cap loss-of-society or grief damages by statute. This is unlike some neighboring states. Caps on punitive damages and certain medical-malpractice damages exist. But the loss-of-society category for ordinary wrongful-death cases is not capped.

Pre-Death Pain and Suffering Under the Survival Act

The Survival Act at 755 ILCS 5/27-6 preserves personal-injury and related claims. These are claims the decedent could have brought if they had survived. The Survival Act count typically runs as a separate count in the same complaint with the Wrongful Death count.

What the Survival Act covers

  • Pre-death conscious pain and suffering: documented through medical records, witness accounts, and (where prolonged) treating-physician testimony
  • Pre-death medical expenses: the decedent’s hospital and medical bills between injury and death
  • Pre-death lost earnings: wages the decedent would have earned during the time between injury and death

Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions 31.10 instructs the jury to consider conscious pain and suffering. The jury considers pain proved by the evidence to have resulted from the wrongful conduct. The period runs from the time of injuries to the time of death.

How the two counts run together

The Wrongful Death count and the Survival Act count compensate different losses. Wrongful Death compensates losses to the next of kin. Survival compensates losses to the decedent that survive to the estate. Both run together in a single complaint with their own elements. They have their own apportionment mechanics. Full coverage of how the two counts integrate is on the Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action in Illinois page.

Documenting pre-death conscious pain and suffering

Evidence of conscious awareness in the time between injury and death determines whether the pre-death pain-and-suffering category is supported. This includes witness accounts, medical records of distress, physiological response, and treating-physician observation. Cases where death is instantaneous have limited Survival Act pain-and-suffering exposure. Cases where the decedent was unconscious from impact to death also have limited exposure. Cases where the decedent was conscious for minutes, hours, or days before death can produce substantial Survival Act recovery.

Funeral and Burial Expenses

Funeral and burial expenses are part of the case accounting. But the procedural vehicle matters. They may be addressed through the estate, the Family Expense Act, or an independent estate claim. This depends on who paid them and which survivors exist. Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions 31.14 treats funeral expenses as an independent action by the administrator or executor. They are not a routine Wrongful Death Act damages item. Itemized receipts document the category. This includes receipts for funeral services, casket or urn, cemetery plot or interment, transportation, and related expenses.

Are punitive damages available in Illinois wrongful death cases?

Sometimes. Current 740 ILCS 180/2 allows punitive damages in a wrongful-death action “when applicable.” But the statute also creates important exclusions. Punitive damages are not available for:

  • Healing-art malpractice
  • Legal malpractice
  • Actions against the State
  • Actions against a unit of local government
  • Actions against a government employee in an official capacity

The Survival Act at 755 ILCS 5/27-6 uses the same “when applicable” framing. It uses the same statutory exclusions.

Nursing-home neglect cases may include Nursing Home Care Act actual damages, costs, and attorney fees under 210 ILCS 45/3-602. They may also include any separate punitive theory the law and facts support. Drunk-driving and other intentional or willful-and-wanton conduct cases may require a punitive-damages analysis. This analysis uses the current Wrongful Death and Survival Act language. Commercial-vehicle willful-and-wanton conduct can raise punitive questions. But only where the evidence and pleading rules support that theory.

Punitive availability in any given case requires careful statutory analysis. The plaintiff response on the punitive-damages question is fact-intensive and case-specific.

Court Approval and Apportionment

Wrongful-death settlements require court approval and allocation. The personal representative cannot distribute settlement proceeds without it.

The approval petition

The personal representative petitions the probate division of the circuit court for approval of the proposed settlement. The petition includes the settlement terms. It includes the proposed attorney-fee allocation. It includes the proposed apportionment among the beneficiaries. It includes the costs and expenses being deducted. It includes the net amount each beneficiary will receive.

The apportionment hearing

The court holds an apportionment hearing on the relative shares for each beneficiary. Under 740 ILCS 180/2(i), the trial judge determines each beneficiary’s degree of dependency on the decedent. The judge calculates the amount awarded to each beneficiary. The calculation accounts for any required contributory-fault reductions. The court signs an apportionment order.

Minor beneficiaries

When the next of kin includes a minor, additional court oversight applies. The court reviews the proposed apportionment for the minor’s share. The court pays particular attention to the minor’s interest. Settlements involving minors may require a structured-settlement option. They may require a custodial account under the Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. They may require guardianship approval or a guardian-ad-litem report.

The Survival Act share

The Survival Act recovery is paid to the decedent’s estate. It is distributed under the estate’s general administration. The will governs where one exists. Illinois intestacy at 755 ILCS 5/2-1 governs otherwise. Survival Act distribution can differ from Wrongful Death apportionment. This happens when the decedent’s will named beneficiaries different from the WD-Act next of kin.

How is the value of lost financial support calculated?

Through forensic-economist testimony. The economist takes the decedent’s pre-death earnings. This includes W-2s, 1099s, and tax returns. The economist projects the earnings trajectory over remaining work-life expectancy. The economist accounts for the share of income that supported the household versus the decedent’s personal consumption. The economist reduces the future earnings stream to present cash value. This follows Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions 34.02.

The economist typically uses government statistical data for personal expense deductions. The economist uses mortality tables for life expectancy analysis. In some cases, the economist may limit the calculation to “active income.” Active income is income from the decedent’s mental and physical efforts. It excludes investment income.

Can I recover for grief and loss of companionship in Illinois?

Yes. The Illinois Supreme Court confirmed in Bullard v. Barnes, 102 Ill. 2d 505 (1984), that loss of society is recoverable under the Wrongful Death Act. Loss of society includes love, affection, companionship, guidance, and consortium. Grief, sorrow, and mental suffering are also recoverable under the current statute. Illinois does not cap these damages by statute.

Can I recover for funeral and burial expenses?

Usually, yes. But the legal route matters. Funeral and burial expenses may be handled through the estate. They may be handled through the Family Expense Act. They may be handled through an independent estate claim. They are not a routine Wrongful Death Act damages item. Itemized receipts document the category. Only expenses actually paid by the beneficiaries are recoverable.

Does an Illinois wrongful death case require court approval to settle?

Yes. The personal representative cannot distribute a wrongful-death settlement without court approval and an allocation order. The court reviews the proposed settlement. The court holds an apportionment hearing on each beneficiary’s degree of dependency. The court signs an order before disbursement.

How is the Survival Act count valued separately from the Wrongful Death count?

The Survival Act count compensates losses the decedent could have recovered if they had survived. This includes pre-death conscious pain and suffering. It includes pre-death medical expenses. It includes pre-death lost earnings between injury and death. The Wrongful Death count compensates losses to the next of kin. Both run as separate counts with their own elements. Full treatment is on the Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action page.

What is the Illinois Wrongful Death Act?

The Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/ et seq., is the statute that creates a cause of action. It applies when a person’s death is caused by another’s wrongful act, neglect, or default. The Act establishes who can sue. It establishes who recovers. It establishes what damages may be awarded. It establishes the general two-year limitations period. It establishes the violent-intentional-conduct extension. It establishes the court distribution and dependency-hearing process.

Speak With a Peoria Wrongful Death Attorney

Robert Parker personally handles every wrongful death case Parker & Parker accepts. Initial consultation is free. The firm works on contingency: no fee unless we recover. Office: 300 NE Perry Avenue, Peoria, IL 61603. Main line: (309) 673-0069.

By Robert Parker — Illinois trial attorney, practicing personal injury and wrongful death law in central Illinois since 2009. Licensed in Illinois. Last updated May 2026.

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