Wrongful Death Expert Services in American Samoa

KWVRS Editorial Team. Last updated 2026-10-12.

KWVRS provides wrongful death vocational, life care planning, and forensic economic analysis for attorneys handling cases in American Samoa.

Overview

Wrongful death cases quantify the economic loss to survivors and the estate resulting from a decedent's death, most commonly as lost earnings, lost fringe benefits, lost household services, and lost personal services or guidance. The vocational component reconstructs the decedent's pre-death earning capacity; the economic component reduces projected losses to present value net of personal consumption.

Vocational and economic impact

For a decedent, the vocational component reconstructs earning capacity at the time of death using education, training, work history, industry trajectories, and labor market data. In some jurisdictions, a claimant spouse's earning capacity is also evaluated where household services or income contributions are at issue.

Damages typically include lost earnings and earning capacity across the decedent's worklife, lost fringe benefits, lost household services, and in some jurisdictions loss of personal consortium, care, guidance, and advice. Projections are reduced to present value using appropriate discount rates and net of personal consumption.

American Samoa courts and expert standards

Wrongful Death matters in American Samoa are litigated in the state's trial courts, with vocational, life care planning, and economic testimony evaluated under American Samoa's expert evidence standard. KWVRS prepares reports and testimony that account for these requirements.

Where these cases are heard

High Court of American Samoa (Trial Division) - General jurisdiction; felonies, civil cases above the District Court's limit, domestic relations, probate and admiralty matters
District Court of American Samoa - Limited jurisdiction; smaller civil cases, small claims, misdemeanors, traffic, adoptions, reciprocal support enforcement and public health cases

Highest court: High Court of American Samoa, Appellate Division (American Samoa has no separate supreme court). Federal venues: none.

Sources: Secretary of American Samoa, Public Laws of American Samoa, the act increasing the civil jurisdiction of the District Court (2008): the trial division of the High Court is a court of general jurisdiction, with felonies, civil cases above the District Court's limit, domestic relations, probate and admiralty matters among its cases; the land and titles division has exclusive jurisdiction over matai titles and land; the appellate division reviews the trial and land and titles divisions and appeals from the District Court; the District Court, a court of limited jurisdiction, hears smaller civil cases, misdemeanors, traffic cases, adoptions, reciprocal support actions and public health offenses (reviewed 2026-10-12); Secretary of American Samoa, Public Laws of American Samoa, the act on temporary associate judges (2015): the appellate, trial and land and titles divisions of the High Court (reviewed 2026-10-12); Secretary of American Samoa, American Samoa Administrative Code, 2024 Edition: suits in the trial division and petitions for review in the appellate division of the High Court of American Samoa, and citations filed with the District Court of American Samoa (reviewed 2026-10-12); American Samoa Department of Commerce, American Samoa Statistical Yearbook 2023 & 2024: its court tables, from the High Court of American Samoa, list the types of case filed in the High Court, among them land, matai (chief) title, divorce and probate cases, and in the District Court, among them civil, traffic, small claims, adoption and public health cases (reviewed 2026-10-12); American Samoa Department of Commerce, Data & Statistics: the American Samoa Statistical Yearbook 2023 & 2024 among the statistical yearbooks the page lists and links (reviewed 2026-10-12); United States Courts, About U.S. District Courts: the territories with courts that hear federal cases are Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (reviewed 2026-10-12)

Attorney guides for wrongful death cases

Other case types in American Samoa

Frequently Asked Questions

What is personal consumption and why is it deducted?

Personal consumption is the portion of the decedent's earnings that would have been spent on the decedent's own maintenance rather than provided to survivors. It is deducted so that damages reflect the net economic loss to the survivors, consistent with standard forensic economic practice.

How is lost earning capacity projected for a decedent who had not yet entered the workforce?

For young decedents or those with limited earnings history, economists use education-based and demographic-based earnings tables from Census/CPS data, applied to an expected career path consistent with the decedent's documented abilities and plans.

Are lost household services compensable in wrongful death cases?

In most jurisdictions, yes. Lost household services are valued using time-use survey data and local market wage rates for equivalent services such as childcare, home maintenance, meal preparation, and transportation.

What discount rate is applied to wrongful death damages?

Forensic economists apply discount rates drawn from Treasury yields matched to the projection horizon, often in a net discount rate framework that also accounts for expected wage growth. Jurisdiction-specific rules may apply.

References

Ready to Get Started on wrongful death cases in American Samoa?

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