Legal damages that fall into this category for a California wrongful death action are intended to compensate the survivor(s) for the intangible benefits of human interaction. This category often makes up the largest portion of the claim, and the biggest difficulty with this particular area of legal damages is that the value of this item of loss is so difficult to measure and argue to a jury or claims adjuster. In determining the amount of these intangible legal damages, there are several items that need to be taken into consideration, including following aspects:
1. the closeness of the relationship involved,
2. the age and health of the survivor, and
3. the life expectancy of the decedent (the person who died as a result of the injury).