PJC General Negligence 2024

PJC 28.6

P ERSONAL I NJURY D AMAGES

PJC 28.6

Personal Injury Damages—Parents’ Loss of Services of Minor Child

QUESTION ______ What sum of money, if paid now in cash, would fairly and reasonably com pensate Paul Payne and Mary Payne for their loss, if any, of Paul Payne, Jr. ’s services, as a result of the occurrence in question? Do not include interest on any amount of damages you find. Answer in dollars and cents for damages, if any, that— were sustained in the past; Answer: _______________ in reasonable probability will be sustained in the future until age eigh teen. Answer: _______________ COMMENT When to use. PJC 28.6 submits the question for damages for the parents’ loss of services of a minor child. The parents’ right to the child’s services and earnings is cod ified in Tex. Fam. Code § 151.001(a)(5). Texas law permits a parent to recover damages for the loss of services of a minor child. The following types of services are examples from the case law: running errands, doing yard work, washing dishes, sweeping floors, mopping, dusting, wash ing windows, making minor repairs, cutting hay, feeding animals, washing laundry, performing farmwork, shining shoes, ironing clothes, caddying, harvesting watermel ons, and generally helping around the house. See, e.g., Green v. Hale , 590 S.W.2d 231, 235–36 (Tex. App.—Tyler 1979, no writ); Gonzalez v. Hansen , 505 S.W.2d 613, 615 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 1974, no writ). “The monetary value of a child’s lost services is not akin to and cannot be measured with the mathematical precision of lost wages.” Pojar v. Cifre , 199 S.W.3d 317, 347 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg 2006, pet. denied). But the plaintiff must pres ent some evidence of the performance and value of lost services and must also estab lish that the injury at issue precludes performance of such services. Pojar , 199 S.W.3d at 347; Gonzalez , 505 S.W.2d at 615.

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