Can a Family Be Compensated for the Pain Suffered in a Wrongful Death Case?

 Posted on September 26, 2026 in Car Accidents

A family can often be compensated after a wrongful death in Illinois. The Wrongful Death Act allows surviving family members to recover for their own grief, sorrow, and mental suffering. A separate claim under the Illinois Survival Act can also seek compensation for the conscious pain and suffering the person experienced between the injury and death.

If you lost someone in 2026, a Will County personal injury lawyer can tell you what your family's claim actually covers. Attorney Dave Carlson brings nearly 25 years of legal experience to these cases.

What Damages Can a Family Recover in an Illinois Wrongful Death Case?

Families in Illinois can recover both financial and emotional losses. Under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/2, a jury may award fair and just compensation for the losses caused by a person's death. That includes:

• The financial support the person would have provided over their lifetime

• The value of household services they handled, from childcare to home repairs

• The loss of their society, companionship, guidance, and care

• Grief, sorrow, and mental suffering

• Punitive damages, when legally available

These damages compensate the surviving family for what they lost because of the death. If the person experienced conscious pain and suffering before dying, the estate may pursue those damages separately through a Survival Act claim.

How Do Illinois Juries Value Grief and Emotional Suffering?

Juries decide on the value of grief and emotional suffering by considering evidence about the relationships affected by the death. Family members may testify about the role the person played in their lives and how the death changed those relationships. Counseling or treatment records may also support a claim for emotional suffering, although they are not required.

Illinois law allows certain close family relationships like spouses and children to have a presumption of loss of society. Siblings and other collateral relatives do not receive that presumption; they must present evidence showing the nature and closeness of their relationship with the person who died. After damages are recovered, the court determines how the wrongful death proceeds are divided among the surviving spouse and next of kin.

What Does the Survival Act Cover That Wrongful Death Damages Do Not?

The Survival Act covers injuries the person experienced before death. Under 755 ILCS 5/27-6, the estate can continue a personal injury claim the person could have pursued if they had survived.

That can include medical expenses, lost wages, and conscious pain and suffering between the injury and death. Evidence of consciousness is important because the estate must show that the person experienced the pain or suffering being claimed. A jury may consider direct or circumstantial evidence when deciding whether the person was conscious before death.

The amount can depend heavily on the circumstances. If death was instantaneous, there may be little or no conscious pain-and-suffering claim. 

Both Claims Are Usually Filed Together

Both claims are usually filed together because the money goes to different places. Wrongful death recovery belongs to the surviving spouse and next of kin. Survival Act recovery belongs to the estate and passes according to the will or Illinois inheritance law, which can mean a different set of people receive it. Filing them as separate counts in one lawsuit is standard practice.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Illinois?

A wrongful death claim in Illinois is filed by the personal representative of the estate, not by family members individually. If no representative has been appointed, one may need to be appointed before the claim can proceed. The recovery belongs to the surviving spouse and next of kin. The representative holds it on their behalf rather than keeping it.

How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Case in Illinois?

Under 740 ILCS 180/2, most Illinois wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the death. Some cases involving violent intentional conduct allow more time. Claims against government entities can have much shorter deadlines, including a one-year limit for many local public entities under 745 ILCS 10/8-101.

Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Joliet, IL Wrongful Death Attorney

Attorney Carlson has served as both a judge and a prosecutor. He’s seen how these cases are weighed from the bench as well as from the counsel table. He works alongside the attorneys of Schwartz Jambois, a large and highly rated personal injury firm. That means he has access to resources and connections your case may need. He can walk you through both the grief and suffering damages available to surviving family members and any Survival Act claim for pain and suffering your loved one experienced before death.

Contact Carlson Law Group, P.C. at 815-710-3700 to talk to our Will County personal injury lawyer today.