Cumberland Telephone & Telegraph Co. v. Anderson

Citations

• 89 Miss. 732
• 41 So. 263

Syllabus

<p>1. Wronsjtui, Death. Action hy parent for death of infant child. Laws 1898, ch. 65, p. 82. Oode 1S92, § 663. Lord Omvphell’s act.</p> <p>Daws 1898, eh. 65, p. 82, amendatory of Code 1892, § 663, providing that a party suing for the wrongful death of another shall recover, if entitled to recover at all, such damages as the jury shall assess, taking into consideration all damages of every kind to any and all parties, authorizes a parent suing for the death of an infant child to recover:</p> <p>(a) The value of the.servic.es of the child from the time of its death until majority; and</p> <p>(B) Such damages, if any, as the jury may award for the physical and mental suffering endured by the child between the injury ■and death, however short that time may have been; and</p> <p>(c) SuCh gratuities, if any, as the evidence may show the parent had a reasonable expectation of receiving from the child before or after its majority; and</p> <p>(d) Such sum as the child might have recovered as the present value of its expectancy.</p> <p>2. Same. Evidence. Instruction.</p> <p>Where, in an action by a mother for the death of an infant son, there was no proof of the age of the mother or of her life expectancy or of her habits of life, nor proof of any gratuity received by the mother from the son, and the evidence showed that the son earned only ten dollars a month, and that there were only seven years between the date of the injury and the time when but for death he would have reached majority, an instruction that in fixing the amount of pecuniary damages the jury should consider the loss of prospective gratui- • ti.es from the son to the mother after he became of age was erroneous ; for, where gratuities are recoverable, only such as there is a reasonable expectation of receiving are recoverable, and the reasonableness of the expectation of receiving them must be based on evidence that they had been received in the past.</p>