Wrongful-Death Damages In The Denney Era

Damages in wrongful-death cases experienced a tectonic event in 2016--the Court of Appeals held that estates can recover the decedent's lost earning capacity. Denney v Kent Co Rd Comm, 317 Mich App 727; 896 NW2d 808 (2016). That was new. And with new rules come new questions.

This article assumes that Denney is controlling (though there's an argument that it isn't) and explores the next battlefront: personal consumption and tax reductions. Had they lived, decedents would have necessarily incurred expenses (personal consumption and taxes on their income). Can estates standing in their shoes recover the entirety of the decedents' future earning capacity? Or, do we account for the expenses that the decedents won't incur?