Is there still a cap on Kansas wrongful death damages?

Yes - K.S.A. 60-1903 caps nonpecuniary (noneconomic) wrongful death damages, such as grief and loss of companionship, at $250,000. Economic damages like lost financial support remain uncapped.

Do most states cap wrongful death the same way as ordinary injury?

It varies considerably. Some states fold wrongful death into the same noneconomic damages cap that applies to severe personal injury generally. Others, like Kansas, set a wrongful-death-specific cap under a separate statute, which can behave very differently in court even when they address similar categories of harm.

Could Kansas's wrongful death cap eventually be challenged too?

It's been suggested as a possibility, since Hilburn encouraged renewed scrutiny of Kansas's other damages caps - but as of the current law, the "creature of statute" reasoning has kept the wrongful death cap intact where the personal injury cap fell.

States With Caps on Wrongful Death Damages

Q: Why did this cap survive when the personal injury cap didn't?

Because wrongful death is "purely a creature of statute" that did not exist as a cause of action under common law when Kansas's Constitution was ratified in 1861. The jury-trial-right guarantee in Hilburn's reasoning protects only causes of action that existed at common law at that time, so it doesn't reach wrongful death claims.

Q: Has this $250,000 cap actually reduced real jury awards?

Yes - in one case decided shortly after Hilburn, a trial court applied K.S.A. 60-1903 to reduce a jury's $1 million award for grief and bereavement down to $250,000, even as it left a companion personal injury claim's noneconomic award uncapped.

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Kansas's personal injury cap fell in 2019. Its wrongful death cap — $250,000 on nonpecuniary damages — survived the very same ruling, for a reason rooted in 1861.

A cap that outlived its sibling statute

K.S.A. 60-1903 caps nonpecuniary wrongful death damages — grief, loss of companionship — at $250,000; economic damages like lost financial support remain uncapped. When Hilburn v. Enerpipe struck down the personal injury cap in 2019, the wrongful death cap survived, because wrongful death is "purely a creature of statute" — it didn't exist as a cause of action at common law when Kansas's Constitution was ratified in 1861. The jury-trial-right guarantee only protects causes of action that existed then, so it doesn't reach wrongful death.

Not theoretical: a real reduction

In one case decided shortly after Hilburn, a trial court applied the wrongful death cap to reduce a jury's $1 million award for grief and bereavement down to $250,000, even as it left the companion personal injury claim's noneconomic award uncapped — the same accident, two different outcomes under two different statutes.

How other states compare

Nationally, states take genuinely different approaches to wrongful death damages. Some fold it into the same noneconomic damages cap that applies to severe personal injury generally — meaning both rise or fall together if either is challenged. Kansas's separate, wrongful-death-specific statute behaves independently, as the 2019 split demonstrated directly.

Could this cap fall too?

Hilburn encouraged renewed scrutiny of Kansas's other statutory damage caps. But as the law currently stands, the "creature of statute" reasoning has kept the wrongful death cap intact where the personal injury cap fell.

Injured in Kansas?

A local personal injury attorney can review your claim — many offer a free consultation.

Talk to a Kansas attorney

Official sources

This is general information, not legal advice, and the jurisdiction comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm the current rule with a licensed attorney.