The Victim Isn’t The Only One Who Suffers After a Serious Injury
Can a spouse get compensation under Colorado law when their partner suffers a serious injury? In a word, yes. Because marriage is a partnership, when one party to a marriage is seriously injured, that partnership and the whole life and family built around it can be turned upside-down. The victim’s physical pain, suffering, or incapacity accompanies the emotional, psychological, and practical trauma that now burdens their spouse.
In many cases of accident or injury, the marriage dynamic completely shifts. The uninjured spouse becomes the primary breadwinner, taking on the pressures of running a household on their own and paying bills without additional income, all while caring for their spouse’s newly altered physical needs. When compounded by the loss of closeness, intimacy, and all of the other wonderful and intangible aspects of married life enjoyed before the injury, the damages suffered by the uninjured spouse are as real as those sustained by the injury victim.
Colorado lawmakers agree and allow the spouses of injury victims to pursue claims for damages against the party responsible for their spouse’s injuries as well as their own personal losses. These are called “loss of consortium” claims.
What is a Colorado “Loss of Consortium” Claim?
“Consortium” is a Latin word meaning “to share a partner.” Filing a loss of consortium claim is how a spouse gets compensation for the emotional and psychological losses experienced due to their partner’s injury. These claims are also referred to as claims for loss of companionship, moral support, society, or services.
A spouse asserting a loss of consortium claim must prove both causation and damages. That is, they must prove that the injuries caused by the defendant resulted in a disruption to the marriage, as well as proving the nature and extent of the marriage’s disruption caused by the injuries and losses.
In addition, loss of consortium claims in Colorado are “derivative” actions. The claim is incorporated into the personal injury case against the individual who caused injury to the spouse. These claims only exist so long as the injury victim’s claims exist. If the injured spouse settles or dismisses their claim or loses their personal injury lawsuit, the loss of consortium claim is no longer valid.
Related: When To Sue or Not Sue For Wrongful Death in Colorado
What Damages Are Available When a Spouse Gets Compensation For a Partner’s Injury?
As noted, a loss of consortium claim allows a spouse to get compensation for the many intangible losses they experience after a partner’s injury. These “non-economic” damages include compensation for:
- having to care for the injured spouse;
- loss of services such as child care and household responsibilities due to their spouse’s inability to perform those tasks;
- loss of companionship, friendship, and affection of spouse; and
- disruption or interruption of the couple’s sex life.
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How Do Juries Value Loss of Consortium?
How do you place a price on a marriage? What are companionship, love, and sexual relations worth? In addition to adding up the injury victim’s economic losses such as medical bills and lost income, juries deliberating whether a spouse should get compensation for their partner’s injuries have to translate the spouse’s loss of consortium claims into actual dollars and cents. When doing so, they will consider several factors, including:
- The duration and stability of the marriage. A couple who is already on the edge of divorce before the injury will have a hard time separating the existing damage to their marriage from the damage resulting from the injury. Similarly, the loss of companionship after 20 years of marriage may be worth more than if the couple was married only a year ago.
- The life expectancies of the spouses. A young couple looking ahead at decades of challenges and struggles because of the accident will likely receive more compensation than an elderly couple.
- The nature and extent of the damage to the relationship. Suppose a spinal cord injury physically incapacitates the victim, requiring round-the-clock care. Perhaps they receive a traumatic brain injury that alters their personality or cognitive abilities. In such cases, the loss of consortium claim may result in significant awards for the uninjured partner.
How Can a Spouse Get Compensation for Their Partner’s Injuries?
Like all other personal injury lawsuits, there are statutes of limitations on loss of consortium claims. Additionally, these derivative actions can only occur in conjunction with the victim’s personal injury lawsuit. The best way to find out if you or your spouse can get compensation for the trauma received to your marriage due to another’s negligence is to call an experienced Colorado Springs accident injury lawyer.
