Two claims, and only one pays for loss of companionship
The Wrongful Death Act lets the jury award damages it deems fair and just for the pecuniary injuries resulting from the death, with hospital, medical and funeral expenses, to the persons entitled to the decedent's intestate property. In Green v. Bittner, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that pecuniary injury includes the lost value of services such as companionship and care and the loss of advice, guidance and counsel, limited strictly to the pecuniary element.
The separate Survival Act lets the estate recover the decedent's own pain and suffering, medical expenses and lost wages. Neither claim is capped, but survivors' own grief is not compensable.