How to run Wrongful Death Damages in DocketMath for Brazil

Step-by-step

Run this scenario in DocketMath using the Wrongful Death Damages calculator.

This guide walks you through running Wrongful Death Damages in DocketMath for Brazil (BR) using the built-in calculator wrongful-death-damages. Because Brazilian wrongful-death damage calculations can involve different modeling choices (and the facts matter a lot), treat the steps below as a practical way to generate a consistent damages “scenario,” not as legal advice.

1) Open the calculator and set Brazil as the jurisdiction

1. Go to the primary call-to-action: /tools/wrongful-death-damages
2. Confirm the jurisdiction is set to Brazil (BR).
3. If DocketMath offers a jurisdiction selector, choose BR so jurisdiction-aware rules are applied.

2) Start with the claim inputs that typically drive the model

Most wrongful-death damages workflows reduce to a few core inputs:

• Who was harmed financially (dependents / estate)
• How long the support expectation would have lasted (the support horizon)
• What income baseline you’re modeling
• Loss multipliers / components (for example, loss of support, loss of household services—depending on what the calculator supports)

In DocketMath, you’ll generally see form fields aligned to these concepts. Fill in:

• Victim’s income baseline (often annual)
• Years of loss / support horizon (or an end age/term, if the UI uses those)
• Survival / end-of-support rule selection (if your UI offers options)
• Dependents count or “share” inputs (if available)
• Discounting / present value option (if the calculator includes a time value toggle)

If any field is missing in your dataset, run a baseline scenario first, then iterate once you have the missing value(s).

3) Choose a scenario approach (baseline vs. alternatives)

To keep your work audit-friendly, run at least two scenarios:

• Scenario A (baseline): your most defensible income and duration assumptions
• Scenario B (stress test): a conservative or alternative set (for example, different income baseline, different support horizon, or different discounting choice)

DocketMath results update as you change inputs, so you can compare:

• Total wrongful death damages
• Present value (if included)
• Component breakdown (if the tool provides it)

4) Enter the “time” assumptions carefully

Wrongful-death damages are extremely sensitive to time modeling. In the calculator, time might appear as:

• a number of years
• an end age
• a retirement-age / life-expectancy style selection

Practical workflow:

• Use consistent reference points.
• If the UI asks for a start year, align it to the date of death or the date used in your workflow.
• If it asks for an end age, confirm you’re not mixing estimates from different sources.

5) Apply dependency modeling (if the calculator supports shares)

If DocketMath includes inputs like:

• number of dependents, or
• a percentage share of the victim’s income, or
• “dependency level”

…then your output should typically scale with that dependency amount.

Practical workflow:

• Run once using a single representative dependency share
• Run again using a dependency structure that matches your case theory (for example, multiple dependents or a different share allocation), if the tool supports it

6) Confirm whether the tool uses Brazilian-style present value logic

Many damages calculators include a time-value step (discounting). In DocketMath, look for controls such as:

• Discount rate
• Present value
• Inflation adjustment

If discounting is enabled:

• the nominal future loss may be converted into a present value, typically reducing totals versus an undiscounted stream.

To keep comparisons fair:

• don’t switch discounting on for one run and off for another unless you are intentionally testing that variable.
• keep discount rate and related toggles consistent within your “baseline vs. stress test” comparisons.

7) Review the output breakdown and export results

After you enter inputs, DocketMath should display:

• a total damages figure (and often a present value)
• a component breakdown (income stream, duration effect, dependency/share effect, and discounting effects—depending on the UI)

Use the breakdown to sanity-check changes:

• If you double the years of loss, does the output increase (often more than proportional if discounting is light)?
• If you change dependency share by 25%, does damages move in line with that change?

If DocketMath provides an export or shareable results option, capture:

• an input summary (key fields only)
• final outputs (total and present value, if shown)
• a scenario label (e.g., Baseline vs Stress test)

8) Document assumptions in a way you can reuse

Even if DocketMath doesn’t require narrative entries, keep a simple checklist (or spreadsheet) that mirrors the calculator inputs, for example:

• Victim income baseline: ____ (annual or monthly—match the calculator)
• Support horizon: ____ (years or end age—match the UI)
• Dependency share / count: ____
• Discounting: on/off (and rate: ____ if applicable)
• Scenario name: ____

This makes it much easier to rerun the model after fact updates.

Common pitfalls

Avoid these frequent errors when running wrongful death damages models in DocketMath for Brazil:

• Mixing annual vs. monthly income

  • Example: entering a monthly figure into an “annual income” field can create an ~12x distortion.

• Inconsistent time horizons

  • Example: one run uses “years of loss from death,” another uses “years from filing,” making outputs apples-to-oranges.

• Changing multiple variables at once

  • If you update both income and duration together, it’s hard to tell what drove the difference.

• Turning discounting on/off between scenarios

  • Present value comparisons become misleading if the model’s discounting logic isn’t held constant.

• Dependency share misalignment

  • If the tool expects a percentage (e.g., 20%) but you enter 2 instead, totals can be off by an order of magnitude.

• Failing to rerun after data cleanup

  • Small edits (for example, changing 54,000 to 54 by accident) can drastically change totals. Re-check magnitudes and formatting.

• Assuming the calculator is a one-size-fits-all legal rule

  • DocketMath calculates based on selected inputs and calculator logic; it is not a legal determination.

Try it

Ready to run your first scenario in DocketMath?

1. Open /tools/wrongful-death-damages
2. Set **Jurisdiction: Brazil (BR)
3. Create two runs:

   • Baseline: your best estimates for income baseline, dependency share, and years of loss
   • Stress test: adjust one major variable only (for example, years of loss OR income baseline OR dependency share)

Quick “sanity check” matrix

Use this to confirm the calculator behaves predictably:

If these expected patterns don’t happen, pause and review:

• input units (annual vs monthly, years vs months)
• percentage vs decimal formatting
• any toggles controlling present value or discounting

Related reading

• Wrongful Death Damages Estimator Guide for Alabama
• Wrongful Death Damages Estimator Guide for Arizona
• Wrongful Death Damages Estimator Guide for Colorado