Worked example: Wrongful Death Damages in Philippines
6 min read
Published April 15, 2026 • By DocketMath Team
Example inputs
Below is a worked example of wrongful death damages in the Philippines using DocketMath with jurisdiction code PH. This walkthrough is meant to show how the calculator behaves with realistic numbers—not to provide legal advice.
Here is a simple illustration for Philippines. These values are for demonstration only and should be replaced with your actual inputs.
- Principal or amount: $100,000
- Rate or cap: 10%
- Start date: 2025-01-15
- End/as-of date: 2025-09-30
Scenario summary (fictional numbers)
Assume a claimant is seeking damages after a death caused by another party’s wrongful act. We’ll model economic damages (lost earnings/support) and non-economic damages (often handled as “consolation-type” civil damages in a wrongful-death framework), along with common adjustment and expense inputs.
Inputs to enter in DocketMath (PH)
Use these as the “example inputs” panel values. If your case facts differ, the calculator will update the totals accordingly.
- Age at death: 35
- Expected working years (or retirement horizon): 25 years
- Monthly gross income: PHP 40,000
- Annual income growth rate: 3%
- Discount rate (present value): 6%
- Personal or household contribution factor: 60% (fraction of income attributed to support/benefit to dependents)
- Assumed number of dependents: 2
- Consolation / non-economic damages basis: PHP 100,000
- Temperance/adjustment multiplier: 1.00 (leave at 1.00 unless your workflow uses a different factor)
- Medical expenses already paid: PHP 0
- Funeral expenses: PHP 80,000
- Legal / other recoverable costs included: PHP 15,000 (keep this aligned with your internal evidence logic)
Pitfall: A frequent error is double-counting expenses—e.g., entering funeral/medical items that are already embedded in another damages bucket. Keep each input mapped to one category in the calculator.
Example run
You can run the same model through DocketMath here: /tools/wrongful-death-damages.
Run the Wrongful Death Damages calculator using the example inputs above. Review the breakdown for intermediate steps (segments, adjustments, or rate changes) so you can see how each input moves the output. Save the result for reference and compare it to your actual scenario.
Step 1: Economic damages (lost earning support)
In a wrongful death damages workflow, lost earnings/support typically dominate the calculation. DocketMath uses your supplied earnings profile (income × growth) over the horizon, then converts to a present value using the discount rate.
Here’s the “mechanics” with the chosen inputs:
Annual base earnings
- Monthly gross income: PHP 40,000
- Annual = 40,000 × 12 = PHP 480,000
Growth over horizon
- Growth rate: 3% per year
- DocketMath projects annual earnings forward for 25 years using that growth rate.
Support contribution factor
- Contribution factor: 60%
- Effective support earnings ≈ projected earnings × 0.60
Present value discounting
- Discount rate: 6%
- Future support earnings are discounted back to a present value figure.
Output economic subtotal
With these parameters, the calculator returns an economic damages total and itemizes it in the result panel.
Step 2: Non-economic damages (consolation-type damages)
Non-economic damages are modeled with a separate basis input:
- Consolation / non-economic damages basis: PHP 100,000
- Temperance/adjustment multiplier: 1.00
So the non-economic subtotal starts at PHP 100,000, then applies the multiplier (stays at PHP 100,000 in this example because the multiplier is 1.00).
Step 3: Expenses (funeral and other recoverables)
Expenses add to the damages package using the inputs you provide:
- Funeral expenses: PHP 80,000
- Medical expenses already paid: PHP 0
- Legal / other recoverable costs included: PHP 15,000
Total expense subtotal here: PHP 80,000 + 0 + 15,000 = PHP 95,000
Step 4: Combine totals
DocketMath aggregates:
- Economic damages (present value of lost support earnings)
- Non-economic damages
- Expenses (funeral + medical (already paid) + other included costs)
The result panel produces:
- a total wrongful death damages figure, and
- a category breakdown (economic vs non-economic vs expenses).
What the output looks like (structure)
Exact numbers depend on DocketMath’s internal formula implementation, but the result is typically structured like:
| Category | Example amount (PHP) | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Economic damages | (PV of lost support earnings) | income, growth, horizon, support factor, discount rate |
| Non-economic damages | 100,000 | non-economic basis, multiplier |
| Funeral + costs | 95,000 | entered expenses (funeral, medical, other costs) |
| Total | (economic + non-economic + expenses) | sum of all buckets |
Warning: Category totals are a modeling output, not an automatic prediction of what a court will award. Recoverability can depend on pleading, evidence, and the applicable legal theory.
Sensitivity check
Now let’s see how changes in one input at a time affect outputs. This is where DocketMath is especially useful for understanding what matters most.
To test sensitivity, change one high-impact input (like the rate, start date, or cap) and rerun the calculation. Compare the outputs side by side so you can see how small input shifts affect the result.
Sensitivity design
Keep everything constant except the variable you’re testing:
- Baseline inputs: the values listed in Example inputs
- Change one input, then compare the economic/non-economic/expense subtotals and the total.
Sensitivity results (directional impacts)
Because economic damages are usually the largest component, the sensitivity check focuses on inputs that move the present value most.
1) Discount rate (6% baseline)
- Lower discount rate (e.g., 5%): future earnings discounted less → economic damages increase
- Higher discount rate (e.g., 7%): future earnings discounted more → economic damages decrease
Practical takeaway: discount rate is often one of the strongest levers on the economic subtotal.
2) Support contribution factor (60% baseline)
Try:
- 50% instead of 60%
- 70% instead of 60%
Expected directional change:
- 50% reduces support earnings; 70% increases them
- This change typically scales the economic portion nearly proportionally because it directly multiplies support earnings
Checkbox checklist:
3) Working horizon (25 years baseline)
Test:
- 20 years
- 30 years
Expected directional change:
- Shorter horizon reduces the number of projected earning years → lower economic damages
- Longer horizon increases the projection period → higher economic damages
4) Monthly gross income (PHP 40,000 baseline)
Test:
- PHP 35,000
- PHP 45,000
Expected directional change:
- Economic damages generally move in a roughly linear way with income (subject to PV mechanics)
- Non-economic and expense inputs remain unchanged unless you edit them
5) Non-economic damages basis (PHP 100,000 baseline)
Test:
- PHP 80,000
- PHP 120,000
Expected directional change:
- Non-economic subtotal moves directly with the basis (and multiplier)
- In many scenarios, changing this affects the total less than adjusting economic drivers (unless the economic component is relatively small)
Note: A practical workflow is to document why each input is set (income evidence, horizon assumptions, receipts). The evidence story helps explain why a particular modeled number is credible under review.