How this Alaska estimate works
Under AS 09.55.580, only the personal representative of the deceased's estate may bring a wrongful death action, for the benefit of statutory beneficiaries. Economic damages — the financial support the decedent would have provided, plus funeral and burial costs — are not capped. Noneconomic damages (loss of companionship, guidance, and consortium) fall under the same cap as any Alaska injury claim involving death: AS 09.17.010 sets this at the greater of $400,000 or the decedent's life expectancy in years × $8,000, since wrongful death automatically qualifies for the higher tier.
A separate survival action under AS 09.55.570 is distinct from the wrongful death claim: it lets the estate recover for the decedent's own pre-death pain and suffering and other damages the decedent could have claimed had they lived, rather than the beneficiaries' own loss. This calculator estimates the wrongful death claim only.