Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Friend, 201 So.2d 641 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967). Without instruction from the legislature, we hesitate to determine one special class of survivors at some other point in time. Second, it is also clear that Mrs. Schindler is a "survivor" entitled to lost support and services under section 768.24, Florida Statutes (Supp....

...The philosophy of the Act is to afford recovery for this element of damage for the living rather than the dead. Martin v. United Security Services, Inc., Fla. 1975, 314 So.2d 765. [2] *642 Consistent with this stated purpose the new Wrongful Death Act in § 768.24 provides: A survivor's death before final judgment shall limit the survivor's recovery to lost support and services to the date of his death. The personal representative shall pay the amount recoverable to the personal representative of the deceased survivor. Dale's estate argues that a correct construction of § 768.24, when viewed in pari materia with other sections of the Act, requires the first sentence of this section to be interpreted as merely setting a limit on the recovery for lost support....

for the undefined term “final judgment” in section 768.24 of the Florida Wrongful Death Act to occur