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Finding out that your loved one died at sea, or died from their injuries shortly after being rescued by the Coast Guard is a traumatic and harrowing experience no one wishes for. However, if you’re grieving the loss of your spouse, child, or parent, you deserve to know your legal rights. One of the most important federal maritime statutes is the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA).
As you may already know, this law allows a representative of a deceased seaman—usually the executor of their estate—to sue the shipowner if the seaman died aboard the vessel under certain conditions. The most important of these conditions are that:
While the Death on the High Seas Act is similar to the wrongful death laws that set the grounds for civil lawsuits in state courts and the federal judicial system, maritime death cases are very different from onshore cases of wrongful death.
Like state and federal wrongful death laws, DOHSA limits what families are able to receive compensation for after a death. However, while state laws include a list of losses that deserve compensation, DOHSA is much less specific. The law says that recovery “shall be a fair compensation for the pecuniary loss sustained by the individuals for whose benefit the action is brought.” In this context, pecuniary means “financial” or “relating to money,” so the law says the family can recover its financial losses due to the death of the seaman. What does that mean?
By now, you won’t be surprised to hear that the federal courts have been interpreting what this phrase means ever since Congress passed DOHSA in 1920. At this point in time, precedent law has settled that six categories may count as pecuniary loss for maritime death cases:
Of course, it’s up to the plaintiff—the person bringing the lawsuit—to show that the death actually caused a loss in any category and to assign a valid dollar amount to the loss.
There are two areas of recovery in conventional wrongful death claims that are not available for lawsuits under DOHSA:
An attorney who is experienced with Jones Act cases can help surviving family members understand their rights after a death or accident at sea. If you have questions about a DOHSA wrongful death claim, contact our law office today at 1-877-724-7800 to schedule a free, confidential case review with our experienced attorneys. In the meantime, you can also start learning more about your rights by reading through our free book, The Insider’s Guide to Winning Your Jones Act Case.