DE · jury_instructions
Del. P.J.I. Civ. § 22.7
Loss of Consortium
LOSS OF CONSORTIUM
When a married person is injured and that injury causes the person’s spouse to
suffer the loss of the company, cooperation, affection, and aid that were previously
a feature of their married life, the spouse is entitled to recover damages in [his/her]
own right for this loss. This claim is known as “loss of consortium.”
To recover for loss of consortium, [spouse’s name] need not prove a total loss.
It is enough that partial loss or impairment of services, companionship, and comfort
is shown. Any lessening of these aspects of a normal marital relationship due to the
injury of a healthy [wife / husband] is considered an element of damages under the
law.
There is no yardstick or formula for assessing damages for loss of consortium,
just as there is none for pain and suffering. The amount of damages to be awarded
is what you decide is fair and reasonable, under all the circumstances, as disclosed
by the evidence.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.delaware.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-23
- Edition
- civ-2025-10-22
- Content hash
2d01957e798fe4dffbe51922e1a7d75e91e029ff2ed3cc8d7adcf7cf1306ca26
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