Wrongful Death Expert Services in Wyoming
KWVRS provides wrongful death vocational, life care planning, and forensic economic analysis for attorneys handling cases in Wyoming.
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.
Wyoming courts and expert standards
Wrongful Death matters in Wyoming are litigated in the state's trial courts, with vocational, life care planning, and economic testimony evaluated under Wyoming's expert evidence standard. KWVRS prepares reports and testimony that account for these requirements.
Where these cases are heard
- District Court - General jurisdiction; felonies, civil cases over $50,000, family law, juvenile and probate matters, and appeals from lower courts
- Circuit Court - Civil cases up to $50,000, misdemeanors, small claims, traffic
Highest court: Wyoming Supreme Court. Federal venues: D. Wyo.
Sources: Wyoming Judicial Branch, District Courts: the trial courts of general jurisdiction, unlimited except for civil cases under $50,000, small claims cases and misdemeanors, which the circuit courts handle; district judges preside over felony criminal and civil cases, including family law, and juvenile and probate matters, and hear appeals from lower court decisions (reviewed 2026-10-12); Wyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit Courts: limited jurisdiction courts for small claims, civil cases of not more than $50,000 and all misdemeanor cases; a circuit court may also take a municipal court's jurisdiction over ordinance violations (reviewed 2026-10-12); Wyoming Judicial Branch, About the Courts: the Supreme Court of Wyoming is the highest level of court in the state; the Chancery Court, created by 2019 legislation for commercial, business and trust cases, has jurisdiction to decide actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief and actions seeking money recovery over $50,000 (reviewed 2026-10-12); Wyoming Judicial Branch, Frequently Asked Questions: generally, the district courts hear civil cases involving claims exceeding $50,000, and the circuit courts have original jurisdiction for all misdemeanor criminal cases, including traffic citations; the Chancery Court, a statewide court, is a specialized court of limited jurisdiction that resolves business and trust cases with bench trials (reviewed 2026-10-12)
Attorney guides for wrongful death cases
Other case types in Wyoming
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
- BLS Occupational Employment StatisticsGovernment
- Census Bureau - Current Population SurveyGovernment
- BLS American Time Use SurveyGovernment
- National Center for Health Statistics - Life ExpectancyGovernment
- Wyoming Judicial Branch, District Courts: the trial courts of general jurisdiction, unlimited except for civil cases under $50,000, small claims cases and misdemeanors, which the circuit courts handle; district judges preside over felony criminal and civil cases, including family law, and juvenile and probate matters, and hear appeals from lower court decisions (reviewed 2026-10-12)Government
- Wyoming Judicial Branch, Circuit Courts: limited jurisdiction courts for small claims, civil cases of not more than $50,000 and all misdemeanor cases; a circuit court may also take a municipal court's jurisdiction over ordinance violations (reviewed 2026-10-12)Government
- Wyoming Judicial Branch, About the Courts: the Supreme Court of Wyoming is the highest level of court in the state; the Chancery Court, created by 2019 legislation for commercial, business and trust cases, has jurisdiction to decide actions seeking declaratory or injunctive relief and actions seeking money recovery over $50,000 (reviewed 2026-10-12)Government
- Wyoming Judicial Branch, Frequently Asked Questions: generally, the district courts hear civil cases involving claims exceeding $50,000, and the circuit courts have original jurisdiction for all misdemeanor criminal cases, including traffic citations; the Chancery Court, a statewide court, is a specialized court of limited jurisdiction that resolves business and trust cases with bench trials (reviewed 2026-10-12)Government
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