How to run Wrongful Death Damages in DocketMath for Kentucky

6 min read

Published June 4, 2026 • By DocketMath Team

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently — verify all citations with current official sources.

Step-by-step

This guide shows how to run Wrongful Death Damages in DocketMath for Kentucky (US-KY) using jurisdiction-aware rules and the calculator page:

Primary CTA: /tools/wrongful-death-damages
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Jurisdiction code: US-KY

Not legal advice. This is a practical walkthrough of how to use the tool and apply the provided Kentucky rule in a jurisdiction-aware way.

1) Open the Kentucky wrongful-death calculator

Go to /tools/wrongful-death-damages.
If the interface asks you to choose a jurisdiction, set it to US-KY.
If the page contains multiple calculators, select Wrongful Death Damages.

2) Enter the inputs DocketMath needs

DocketMath’s workflow typically centers on the economic harm categories you want reflected in the calculation. Use the inputs relevant to your matter, such as:

Decedent earnings / income basis
Employment or earnings growth assumptions (if prompted)
Expected duration of economic impact (time horizon)
Discounting / interest / present-value settings (if prompted)
Any specified adjustments the calculator requests (for example, dependents/support allocation or other fields)

How the inputs affect the output (so you can reason about changes):

Increasing the income input generally increases the economic damages.
Extending the time horizon generally increases damages.
Increasing a discount-rate / present-value adjustment generally decreases the present value (because future amounts are valued less today).

3) Confirm the Kentucky “who can bring the action” rule (jurisdiction-aware)

Even when you’re only running the damages math, Kentucky law includes a key procedural requirement: the action must be prosecuted by the personal representative.

Kentucky’s wrongful-death cause of action is grounded in:

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.130: “Whenever the death of a person results from an injury inflicted by the negligence or wrongful act of another, damages may be recovered for the death… The action shall be prosecuted by the personal representative of the deceased.”
Source: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=31499

Practical impact when using DocketMath outputs:
DocketMath helps you generate a damages model, but it doesn’t replace the statutory requirement about who brings the wrongful-death action. If your results will be used in a demand narrative, settlement package, or similar materials, make sure your paperwork and caption-level narrative align with the personal representative requirement.

4) Apply Kentucky’s claim timing rule using the available default

For timing/limitations settings, the provided rule note says:

No claim-type-specific sub-rule was found
Therefore, the relevant timing basis is the general/default period

So, when DocketMath prompts for a timing period (or applies a statute-of-limitations screen):

Use the default/general period available in your jurisdiction settings.
Do not assume a special “wrongful death only” timing override exists, because the provided ruleset does not indicate one.

If you see a UI dropdown labeled “wrongful death” vs “other tort,” don’t treat that label as proof of a Kentucky-specific override. Based on the rule set available here, use the general/default timing basis unless the tool’s jurisdiction-aware rules clearly provide a separate wrongful-death-specific period.

5) Run the calculation and interpret outputs

After you click Calculate / Run / Compute:

Record the total wrongful-death damages (or the calculator’s total output).
Review any category subtotals (if the tool displays them).
Check the Assumptions / Model Inputs panel so you know exactly what settings were used.

Then run a quick reasonableness and sensitivity check:

Change income by a small amount (e.g., +5% or +10%) and rerun.
Change the time horizon by a small increment and rerun.
If DocketMath offers discounting/present-value options, rerun with a different discount/present-value setting and compare totals.

This helps you confirm that the tool is responding to your key assumptions in the way you expect.

6) Document the assumptions you used for KY

When you’re working in Kentucky (US-KY), keep a short record of what you ran:

Jurisdiction: US-KY
Statute cited in your narrative basis: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.130
Procedural note: the action is prosecuted by the personal representative
Timing basis used: general/default period (because no wrongful-death-specific sub-rule was found)

Even a short checklist prevents mismatches between (1) what the model calculated and (2) how the results are described in filings or settlement materials.

Common pitfalls

Wrongful-death damages modeling is sensitive to inputs and to timing/procedural settings. In Kentucky, these common issues are especially worth checking:

Pitfall 1: Forgetting Kentucky’s “personal representative” requirement

A correct damages number can still be unusable if your materials assume the wrong plaintiff. Kentucky’s statute states the action “shall be prosecuted by the personal representative of the deceased.”

Statute reference: Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.130

How it shows up in practice: case caption/plaintiff description, settlement demand language, and documentation consistency.

Pitfall 2: Using the wrong timing rule by expecting a “wrongful-death-only” window

The rule note for your setup says no claim-type-specific sub-rule was found, so the calculator should use the general/default period.

Quick checklist:

Timing screen uses the default/general period
You did not select a special wrongful-death timing option without supporting jurisdiction-aware rules
You can explain which period was applied

Tip: A UI label can look specific even when the underlying rule set indicates there’s no separate wrongful-death sub-rule. When in doubt, follow the default period you have available and document it.

Pitfall 3: Treating “income” as a single meaning without aligning assumptions

Income inputs often conceal key modeling choices, for example:

gross vs net
whether you included benefits
whether you assumed earnings growth or held income flat

If DocketMath offers toggles for growth or present-value discounting:

Keep those settings consistent when you compare scenarios.
Don’t mix one run’s growth settings with another run’s discounting settings and then interpret the difference as “what would happen in this scenario” rather than “what changed in the model.”

Pitfall 4: Skipping a sensitivity check

Without rerunning small variations, it’s easy to miss which input drives the result. A quick routine:

Baseline run
Rerun with income +10%
Rerun with time horizon +1 year
Rerun with a different discount/present-value setting (if applicable)

Then compare totals to see what changes materially.

Try it

Use this quick “first run” workflow to build confidence with DocketMath for Kentucky (US-KY):

Open /tools/wrongful-death-damages
Set jurisdiction to US-KY
Enter:
- decedent earnings/income basis
- time horizon for economic impact
- any growth/discounting fields the calculator requests
Run the calculation
Save notes for your record:
- Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.130 supports the wrongful-death damages action
- the action is prosecuted by the personal representative
- timing uses the general/default period (no wrongful-death-specific sub-rule found)

If you plan to rely on the output externally, stress-test with 2–3 reruns using small adjustments and compare the totals.