Florida Statute 768.21 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes

Title XLV
TORTS

Chapter 768
NEGLIGENCE

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F.S. 768.21

768.21 Damages.—All potential beneficiaries of a recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent’s estate, shall be identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows:

(1) Each survivor may recover the value of lost support and services from the date of the decedent’s injury to her or his death, with interest, and future loss of support and services from the date of death and reduced to present value. In evaluating loss of support and services, the survivor’s relationship to the decedent, the amount of the decedent’s probable net income available for distribution to the particular survivor, and the replacement value of the decedent’s services to the survivor may be considered. In computing the duration of future losses, the joint life expectancies of the survivor and the decedent and the period of minority, in the case of healthy minor children, may be considered.

(2) The surviving spouse may also recover for loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.

(3) Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may also recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. For the purposes of this subsection, if both spouses die within 30 days of one another as a result of the same wrongful act or series of acts arising out of the same incident, each spouse is considered to have been predeceased by the other.

(4) Each parent of a deceased minor child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.

(5) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent’s injury or death may be recovered by a survivor who has paid them.

(6) The decedent’s personal representative may recover for the decedent’s estate the following:

(a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors excluding contributions in kind, with interest. Loss of the prospective net accumulations of an estate, which might reasonably have been expected but for the wrongful death, reduced to present money value, may also be recovered:

1. If the decedent’s survivors include a surviving spouse or lineal descendants; or

2. If the decedent is not a minor child as defined in s. 768.18(2), there are no lost support and services recoverable under subsection (1), and there is a surviving parent.

(b) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent’s injury or death that have become a charge against her or his estate or that were paid by or on behalf of decedent, excluding amounts recoverable under subsection (5).

Evidence of remarriage of the decedent’s spouse is admissible.

(7) All awards for the decedent’s estate are subject to the claims of creditors who have complied with the requirements of probate law concerning claims.

(8) The damages specified in subsection (3) shall not be recoverable by adult children and the damages specified in subsection (4) shall not be recoverable by parents of an adult child with respect to claims for medical negligence as defined by s. 766.106(1).

History.—s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 2, ch. 81-183; s. 1, ch. 85-260; s. 2, ch. 90-14; s. 1169, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 2002-44; s. 66, ch. 2003-416; s. 163, ch. 2020-2.

F.S. 768.21 on Google Scholar

F.S. 768.21 on Casetext

Amendments to 768.21

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 768.21

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 768.21.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 768.21

Total Results: 20

Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company v. Bryan Rintoul, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Edward Caprio

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-10-23T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: recover damages as a ‘surviving spouse’ under section 768.21(2).” 385 So. 3d at 1024. Consistent with our

CITY OF SARASOTA, OFFICER JUAN JAIMES v. ESTATE OF JOHN KAAFI, SOUCY

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2024-08-14T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: " § 768.20. To assist a defendant, section 768.21 identifies the damages allowable and requires

Jennifer Ripple, etc. v. CBS Corporation

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2024-05-09T00:00:00-07:00

Snippet: spouse” under section 768.21(2) but that she was such a spouse under section 768.21(3). Id. 4 The… under section 768.21(2), the adult children could recover damages under section 768.21(3). We do not …damages under section 768.21(2). -9- section 768.21(2). The district court…the date of injury.” § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. The plain language of section 768.21(2) indicates that a spouse…in section 768.21(2) cannot reasonably be read to contradict this ordinary meaning. § 768.21(2), Fla.

William Marvin Douberley v. Harold Peerenboom

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2023-12-13T00:00:00-08:00

Snippet: supplied). The key to the proper analysis of section 768.21(1) is that the Legislature has never adopted a

GEORGE GOMEZ v. PHILIP MORRIS USA INC., etc.

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2023-01-24T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: recover only if there is no surviving spouse. §768.21 (3), Fla. Stat. A finding that the estate can …spouse to recover consortium damages under section 768.21(2), Florida Statutes. There is a conflict on this

Brinda Coates, etc. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2023-01-04T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: beneficiaries, not the decedent, see §§ 768.18, 768.21, Fla. Stat. (1997). As explained above, …date of death and reduced to present value.” § 768.21(1). Accordingly, because the Wrongful Death Act… the estate in a wrongful death action. Section 768.21(6) specifies the damages that “[t]he decedent’

PHILIP MORRIS USA INC. and R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY v. BRYAN RINTOUL, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Edward Caprio

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2022-05-11T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: when and who can file claims under the law. See § 768.21, Fla. Stat. (2022). No matter how sympathetic… pain and suffering from the date of injury.” § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. (2019). This is a direct cause of… caused by the death of the other spouse. See § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. (2019). Kelly removes that cause

JENNIFER RIPPLE, as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF RICHARD D. COUNTER v. BENNET AUTO SUPPLY

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2022-03-30T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: surviving spouse” under section 768.21(3) of the Wrongful Death Act. See § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2015) (“Minor…surviving spouse” under section 768.21(2) of the Wrongful Death Act. See § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. (2015) (“The…its inconsistent findings under sections 768.21(2) and 768.21(3) by describing the decedent’s wife as …and for mental pain and suffering” under section 768.21(2) of the Wrongful Death Act. The estate’s alternative…is barred from recovering damages under section 768.21(2) of the Wrongful Death Act (per Kelly), then

HEALTHCARE UNDERWRITERS GROUP, INC., AMARNATH VEDERE, M.D. and CARDIOLOGY PARTNERS, P.L. v. DEBORAH SANFORD, as Personal Representative of the ESTATE OF GERALD L. SANFORD

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2022-03-30T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: indicates that a minor child’s recovery under section 768.21(3) should be measured by the joint life expectancy…needed to establish damages pursuant to section 768.21(2). The plaintiff in McQueen did not introduce

Mary E. Sheffield, etc. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2021-11-17T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: Fla. Stat., [and] its own panoply of remedies, § 768.21, Fla. Stat.” Not surprisingly, then, this… recoverable in a wrongful death action, see § 768.21, Fla. Stat., a claim for punitive damages nevertheless…enumerated survivors and of the decedent, see § 768.21(6), Fla. Stat. (listing the damages the “personal

SANDRA SANTIAGO AND NORMA CACERES, AS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ESTATE OF RAMONA REYES v. FRANCISCO A. RODRIGUEZ, MD

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-10-18T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: declaration regarding the constitutionality of section 768.21(8), Florida Statutes (2017). That statute excludes…expired and that the action was barred by section 768.21(8). Following a hearing, the circuit court granted…maintain that the class limitation created by section 768.21(8) violates the equal protection guarantees of…. 2d at 1043. The court concluded that section 768.21(8)'s limitation on who can recover noneconomic…undermine Mizrahi's decision to uphold section 768.21(8) premised on the existence of such a crisis.

Philip Morris USA v. Gloger

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2019-03-20T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: pain and suffering from the date of injury.” § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. (2018) (emphasis added); see also…Instr. (Civ.) 502.2(d). Consistent with section 768.21 and the standard jury instruction, the estate’s

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Diane Schleider, Etc.

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2018-12-26T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 273 So. 3d 63

Snippet: surviving spouse, surviving minor child, or both. § 768.21(1)-(3), Fla. Stat. (permitting recovery for loss…pain and suffering from the date of injury.” § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2014). Section 768.18(2) defines

Gwendolyn E. Odom, etc. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2018-09-20T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 254 So. 3d 268

Snippet: and suffering from the date of injury." § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2014). Thus, an adult child twenty-five…noneconomic damages under the statute. See § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2014). In tandem with the … "if there is no surviving spouse." § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2014). In doing so, the Legislature….2d 1246 (Fla. 2006). 5 § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (2014). 6 The jury… and suffering from the date of injury." § 768.21(3), Fla. Stat. (1987). Additionally, prior to 1979

Domino's Pizza v. Wiederhold

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2018-05-07T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 248 So. 3d 212

Snippet: Sullivan, 509 So. 2d 268, 272 (Fla. 1987). Section 768.21 specifies the types of damages that may be awarded… both subsections (1) and (2) of section 768.21 clearly provide that damages are recoverable from…from the date of “injury.” §§ 768.18(1), 768.21(1)–(2), Fla. Stat. (2015). Thus, the plain … of injury” and the “date of death” in section 768.21 demonstrates its awareness that these may be two…on Mr. Wiederhold’s behalf pursuant to section 768.21(6), Florida Statutes. That section states, in pertinent

PLANTATION GENERAL HOSPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP v. DIVISION OF ADMIN. HEARINGS, BERNARD BELZI, etc.

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2018-04-04T00:53:00-07:00

Snippet: non-economic damages. As applicable in this case, section 768.21 provides: (1) Each survivor may recover

Delgado v. Agency for Health Care Admin.

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2018-01-26T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 237 So. 3d 432

Snippet: also for funeral expenses. See §§ 768.20 & 768.21, Fla. Sta. (2016). Ultimately, the wrongful death

PHILIP MORRIS USA INC. v. BERNICE MCCALL

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2017-12-12T23:53:00-08:00

Snippet: injury, this remedy is a creature of statute. § 768.21(2), Fla. Stat. (2007); see also Nissan Motor Co

In Re: Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases—report No. 17-02

Court: Fla. | Date Filed: 2017-11-02T00:00:00-07:00

Citation: 228 So. 3d 531, 2017 WL 4985514

Snippet: survivors include a spouse or lineal descendant. F.S. 768.21(6)(a) (1985); Vildibill v. Johnson, 492 So.2d 1047…NOTES ON USE FOR 502.2d 1. F.S. 768.18 and 768.21 (1990), applicable to causes of action accruing

Kelly v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC

Court: Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | Date Filed: 2017-02-22T00:00:00-08:00

Citation: 211 So. 3d 340, 2017 WL 697746, 2017 Fla. App. LEXIS 2413

Snippet: of the decedent’s injury to her or his death. § 768.21(l)-(2), Fla. Stat. (2015). In interpreting a statute…See § 768.18, Fla. Stat. (2015). Further, section 768.21, which governs recoverable damages, does not state… majority contends that the language of section 768.21(2) implies that the Legislature assumed the surviving… to the decedent on the date of injury. Section 768.21(2) states that “[tjhe surviving spouse may also