When someone you love is seriously injured, the pain doesn’t stop with them. The fallout hits your family life. Your connection. Your routines. The entire relationship can change overnight.
Here’s the hard truth: Over 24 million Americans visit emergency rooms every year for accidental injuries, according to the CDC. Behind those ER visits are spouses, children, and families who lose more than just time or money—they lose affection, emotional support, and stability.
That’s where loss of consortium comes in. It’s a legal claim that recognizes how personal injuries affect close relationships—not just the injured person.
If your loved one has been hurt due to someone else’s negligence, and your relationship has been impacted in serious ways, you may have the right to file a separate claim. This article will walk you through what loss of consortium means, how these claims work, what kinds of damages can be recovered, and how they're calculated.
And if you think you might have a claim, Cory Watson Attorneys is here to help. Let’s go step by step.
What Is Loss of Consortium?
Loss of consortium is a claim filed by a spouse or close family member of an injured person. It’s a way to seek compensation for the loss of companionship, affection, intimacy, or support that the injured person can no longer provide due to their injuries.
These aren’t financial damages like lost wages or hospital bills. They’re relational and emotional losses—and they can have long-lasting effects.
The term “consortium” refers broadly to the benefits of a family or marital relationship. That includes:
- Emotional care and comfort
- Love and companionship
- Sexual intimacy
- Shared household duties
- Parenting responsibilities
In the eyes of the law, when one person is seriously injured, their loved ones can suffer a separate and real injury — the damage to the relationship itself.
In most states, loss of consortium claims can only be filed by spouses. Some allow claims by children or parents, depending on the facts of the case. These are usually filed as part of a broader personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit, but they’re considered distinct claims.
What Is an Example of a Loss of Consortium Claim?
Let’s break this down with a real-world example.
Example: A husband is severely injured in a motorcycle accident caused by a drunk driver. He survives but suffers a spinal cord injury that leaves him paralyzed from the waist down.
Before the accident, he and his wife had an active marriage. They shared household tasks, raised their kids together, and enjoyed a close emotional bond. After the injury, not only is he unable to work — he can’t engage in the physical and emotional parts of their marriage. Their relationship is strained. His mental health declines. She takes on all the household responsibilities and becomes his full-time caregiver.
In this case, the wife may have a valid loss of consortium claim.
She’s not claiming damages for his injury. She’s claiming for her loss — the companionship, partnership, and intimacy that’s now gone.
Other examples:
- A mother whose child suffers a traumatic brain injury and can no longer speak, show affection, or maintain relationships.
- A partner whose spouse can’t return to the same mental or emotional state after a serious accident, leading to a breakdown in communication and emotional connection.
- A family whose dynamic collapses due to a wrongful death, affecting how surviving members relate to each other long-term.
Loss of consortium claims are more common in cases involving:
- Spinal cord injuries
- Brain injuries
- Severe burns
- Amputations
- Wrongful death
What Does Recovery for Loss of Consortium Include?
A successful loss of consortium claim compensates you for non-economic damages — meaning losses that don’t have a dollar value attached but still matter deeply.
Common elements in a loss of consortium recovery include:
1. Loss of Companionship
The injured person is no longer emotionally available. This can include lack of support, shared life goals, or just day-to-day closeness.
2. Loss of Sexual Intimacy
Physical injuries, mental trauma, or medication side effects can all reduce or eliminate the ability to engage in a physical relationship.
3. Loss of Services
You may now be the only one doing housework, raising children, or providing elder care — tasks that were once shared.
4. Emotional Distress
Watching a loved one suffer has mental health consequences. Many spouses of injured victims suffer depression, anxiety, and burnout — especially when they take on caregiving duties.
5. Parent-Child Impacts
In some jurisdictions, children may recover for the loss of a parent’s guidance, affection, or care — particularly in wrongful death cases.
These aren’t minor disruptions. They impact your quality of life, your mental health, your daily routine, and your long-term plans.
Important: Loss of consortium isn’t available in every personal injury case. Courts usually require that the injury be serious, long-term, and directly damaging to the relationship.
How Do You Calculate Loss of Consortium Damages?
There’s no set formula to calculate these damages. Loss of consortium is considered a subjective, non-economic loss, so the amount awarded depends heavily on the evidence presented and the jurisdiction where the case is filed.
Courts and insurance adjusters usually consider:
1. The Nature of the Relationship
Was the marriage strong? Were you emotionally close? Were household responsibilities shared?
2. The Severity and Permanence of the Injury
The more severe and permanent the injury, the greater its impact on the relationship.
3. Age and Life Expectancy
Younger spouses with decades of lost companionship ahead may receive higher awards.
4. Changes in Family Role
If one partner now acts as a caregiver or full-time parent due to the injury, that can increase the value of the claim.
5. Expert Testimony
Psychologists, medical experts, or family therapists may be used to show the emotional and relational effects of the injury.
6. Witness Statements
Friends and family who knew the relationship before and after the injury can testify about what has changed.
Some states cap non-economic damages, especially in medical malpractice cases. Others don’t. In Alabama, there is no general cap on non-economic damages in standard personal injury cases—but caps may apply in medical negligence cases or depending on the defendant.
Loss of consortium damages often range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the facts. Each case is unique. The more documentation and credible testimony you provide, the stronger your claim.
How to File a Loss of Consortium Claim
Here’s what you need to do if you’re considering a loss of consortium claim:
- Consult a personal injury attorney. You need to make sure your claim is valid under your state’s laws and connected to a larger personal injury case.
- Gather evidence. Keep medical records, caregiving logs, therapy reports, and written statements from friends and family who’ve seen the impact.
- Document your relationship. Photos, emails, texts, and calendars can show what life was like before the injury.
- Be ready to testify. Courts will want to hear directly from you about the personal impact this injury has had.
Loss of consortium is deeply personal. These claims can be emotional—and even uncomfortable to talk about—but they’re real and they matter.
Talk to Cory Watson Attorneys About Your Loss of Consortium Claim
Loss of consortium is a powerful legal claim—but one that needs to be handled with care, strategy, and evidence. These claims can make a real difference in your ability to move forward after your family life has been disrupted.
At Cory Watson Attorneys, we’ve helped thousands of clients in Alabama and across the country recover fair compensation in personal injury and wrongful death cases — including claims involving loss of consortium. We know how to present these cases clearly, with evidence that speaks to real human impact.
We’ll listen. We’ll tell you what your options are. And we’ll guide you through every step.Call us today or schedule a free consultation. There’s no fee unless we recover for you. Let’s talk about what you’ve lost — and how we can help you seek justice.