In Minnesota there is a statue that guides us. When the Old English Law was brought over to the United States each state set up its own Wrongful Death Statue, because under Old English Law you could sue if you lost an arm or a leg, but you couldn’t sue if you lost a loved one. And in Minnesota we have what’s called a Pecuniary Law Statue, which means that you can make a claim for the value that has been lost from the contributions of the deceased.

In the simple case a wife can recover for her husband’s loss of income production, but there is some good case law that has been created that allows one to bring a claim as well, for care, comfort, society, companionship, aid and protection and those are all viable and valuable claims. There has to be under our statue the appointment of a trustee for all heirs and next of kin. You have to be an heir or next of kin in order to qualify to bring a claim, but presuming you meet that definition by marriage or bloodline, you have the rights to bring a claim if a loved one is lost.