Dependancy Division
Apportionment Between Dependants
Under the Fatal Accident Act, there is no authority for apportionment in a fatal accident claim. In widow’s claims the award is a greater part of the total compensation on the assumption that she will maintain the children as long as they are dependent and to award comparatively small sums to the children themselves. Usually a younger child is awarded more than the older child because the period of expected dependency is greater.
The court will also take into account in a fatal accident claim, the fact that deceased parents, but for their death, may have had further children thereby reducing the amount apportioned to the existing dependants at the time of death.
In a fatal accident claim the court calculated the loss of dependency on different assessments but all came up with a figure which was virtually identical. The principles will be applied but there is no rule-of-thumb as to the correct methods to adopt.
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