Household Services & Economic Coordination

Household services damages compensate for the loss of non-market work a plaintiff or decedent performed—childcare, cooking, cleaning, home maintenance, transportation, and yard work. These services have economic value measurable by market replacement cost even though no wages were paid.

Household services experts (often forensic economists or specialized consultants) quantify hours and market rates. Future Earnings Expert network economists coordinate with household services specialists to ensure consistent assumptions and avoid overlap with other economic heads.

In injury cases, household services loss may apply when the plaintiff cannot perform prior household tasks due to disability. In wrongful death cases, beneficiaries recover the value of services the decedent would have provided to the household. Work-life or life expectancy defines the loss period.

Double recovery risks arise when household services are counted alongside total disability that already assumes the plaintiff cannot perform any work, or when life care plans include paid caregiving that overlaps with household services. Counsel and experts must delineate each head clearly.

Network economists may perform household services analysis when scoped, or integrate household services opinions from co-experts into the total economic damages summary. All assumptions on hours, rates, and period are documented for cross-examination.