Florida Wrongful Death Calculator
Florida §768.21 Wrongful Death Act — adult-child exclusion (§768.21(8)) 'free kill' for medical negligence. HB 6003 repeal died in the 2026 Senate. HB 837 2-yr SOL
How much is a Florida wrongful death settlement worth? Varies widely. Major auto/trucking: $1M-$5M. Catastrophic negligence (Icon Park): hundreds of millions.
⚠ FL 'Free Kill' §768.21(8): adult children + parents of adult decedents CANNOT recover non-econ for medical negligence. The HB 6003 repeal passed the House in January 2026 but died in the Senate.
Your Injury
Your Estimated Settlement
$36,000 — $66,000
Pain and suffering = $15,000 in medical bills × 3.0 severity multiplier. Your bills are already included in that figure, so they are not added again.
What you'd actually take home
- Estimated settlement
- $51,000
- Attorney fee (33–40%)
- −$17,000 to −$20,400
- Roughly yours
- $30,600 – $34,000
Not included: case costs (court filing, expert witnesses, medical records) and any medical liens or health-insurance reimbursement. Those come out of your share too, so treat the figure above as an upper bound.
Keep this estimate — it is gone when you close the tab.
Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Florida Wrongful Death — The 'Free Kill' Problem
Florida §768.21 Wrongful Death Act has a uniquely harsh feature: §768.21(8) bars adult children + parents of adult decedents from recovering non-economic damages (pain, suffering, loss of companionship) when a medical provider's negligence caused the death. Known as the 'free kill' provision — families of deceased adults cannot recover for grief/loss in medical malpractice cases.
HB 6003 (2026 session) would have repealed §768.21(8). History: the 2025 version (HB 6017) passed the House 104-6 and the Senate 33-4 and was vetoed by Gov. DeSantis on May 29, 2025. The House passed HB 6003 88-17 on January 15, 2026, but it died in the Senate Rules Committee when the session ended March 13, 2026 (its Senate companion, SB 1700, died in Judiciary). Status: NOT LAW — §768.21(8) remains in force in the 2026 Florida Statutes.
HB 837 (March 2023) reduced general negligence SOL from 4 to 2 years — wrongful death was already 2 years + unchanged. Damages: lost support/services, consortium (spouse), mental pain/suffering (spouse + minor children), net accumulations (estate). No cap for general negligence. Notable 2025: $779M Gadsden County (security guard), $310M Icon Park ride death (parents $155M each), $31.9M med-mal.
Florida Wrongful Death FAQs
Who can file wrongful death in Florida?
Personal representative of the estate files. Survivors: surviving spouse, minor children, parents (if no surviving spouse/child), dependent blood relatives + siblings. ADULT children are excluded from non-economic in medical malpractice under §768.21(8).
What is the 'free kill' law?
§768.21(8) bars adult children + parents of adult decedents from recovering non-economic damages (pain, suffering, loss of companionship) when medical provider's negligence caused death. Uniquely harsh — family of deceased adults gets NOTHING for grief in med-mal cases. Repeal efforts have failed so far: HB 6017 was vetoed in May 2025, and HB 6003 died in the Senate in March 2026.
What damages can I recover?
Spouse: lost support/services + consortium + mental pain/suffering. Minor children: parental companionship + instruction + guidance + mental pain. Adult children (non-medical): economic + mental pain. Adult children (medical): ECONOMIC ONLY — HB 6003, which would have changed this, died in March 2026. Parents: support/services; mental pain where applicable. Estate: net accumulations.
How long do I have to file?
2 years from date of death (§95.11(5)(e)). HB 837 reduced general negligence SOL to 2 years post-March 2023, wrongful death unchanged. Strict — courts rarely grant extensions.
How much is a Florida wrongful death settlement worth?
Varies widely. Major auto/trucking: $1M-$5M. Catastrophic negligence (Icon Park): hundreds of millions. $779M Gadsden 2025. $310M Icon Park 2024 (parents $155M each, gross negligence). Notable 2024-25 average: $2M-$25M for contested cases.
Did HB 6003 pass in 2026?
No. The House passed HB 6003 88-17 on January 15, 2026, but the bill died in the Senate Rules Committee when the session ended on March 13, 2026; its Senate companion, SB 1700, died in the Judiciary Committee. The 2025 version, HB 6017, had passed both chambers and was vetoed by Gov. DeSantis on May 29, 2025. Medical malpractice defendants and insurers oppose repeal. A new bill would have to start over in a future session — until then, §768.21(8) applies.
Is there a damages cap in Florida wrongful death?
For general negligence (car accidents, product liability): NO statutory cap. Medical malpractice caps vary + contested post-Estate of McCall (2014) + Kalitan (2017). Gov entity caps under §768.28: $200K per person / $300K per incident.
What is 'net accumulations' that the estate can recover?
Deceased's projected future earnings MINUS personal living expenses — what would have accumulated in the estate. Recoverable under §768.21(6). Economist expert typically calculates via actuarial tables + career trajectory + personal consumption patterns.
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Other Calculators for Florida
Each Florida calculator reflects state-specific laws (caps, statutes of limitations, comparative-negligence rules) and uses Florida verdict data where available.