Death on the High Seas Act

The Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) applies to any death that occurs more than 3 nautical miles from the shore of any state. A claim under the Act can only be pursued by the personal representative of the deceased on behalf of the decedent’s spouse, children or any other financially-dependent relative. These claims only allow for the recovery of monetary damages, not pain and suffering.

Contact the Maritime Accident Injury Lawyers at Zehl & Associates today for a free consultation at 1-888-302-3838 or by clicking here

DOHSA damages are calculated based upon the value of the financial benefit that the relative would have received from the decedent. According to this calculation, dependent children may recover the value of the care and guidance that they would have received from the decedent parent had they survived. Also, a surviving spouse is eligible to recover the actual value of the financial contribution a decedent would have made to the family, had he or she lived, minus any amount that the decedent would have used to support himself.

While DOHSA does not specifically allow for a loss of consortium claim, spouses may also recover the monetary value of any household services the decedent would have performed had he survived. This is generally calculated using the number of anticipated hours of service the decedent would have provided multiplied by a reasonable hourly rate for those services.

The experienced Maritime Injury and Offshore Accident Lawyers at Zehl & Associates understand the Death on the High Seas Act and can help you recover what’s yours under the law. Contact us today toll-free by calling 1-888-302-3838.

General Maritime Law

While there are some statutes, like the Jones Act or the Death on the High Seas Act, that were enacted by the United States Legislature to protect specific persons hurt or killed offshore by providing causes of action, General Maritime Law refers to the body of federal common law that has developed over the past several decades through various judicial rulings and interpretations of statutory law.

General maritime law fills the gap by providing causes of action that are not found in any statute. If you are not covered under one of the statutes, you may still be entitled to protection under general maritime law. For example, if you were a recreational boater and were injured while out on the water, you may have rights under general maritime law, even though the legislatively-enacted statutes, like the Jones Act, will not apply because you were not working at the time of the accident.

The experienced Maritime Accident Lawyers at Zehl & Associates understand General Maritime Law and can explain your options following an accident on the water. Contact us today by calling our National Maritime Injury Hotline: 1-888-302-3838

Limitation on Liability Act

Congress passed the Limitation on Liability Act in 1851 to promote the building of new vessels and to reassure investors that the ship-building industry was a safe place to invest money. The Act also aided in leveling the global playing field since most other maritime nations already had their own limitation acts in place by that time. This Act allows a vessel owner to limit liability for damage or injury, as long as the incident occurred without the owner’s knowledge, to the value of the vessel or the owner’s interest in the vessel. Essentially, a vessel owner may limit his liability so that it does not exceed the amount or value of his financial interest in the vessel.

Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act

The Longshoreman and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act is a federally-administered program that provides wage compensation and medical benefits to workers who were injured while employed on a navigable waterway or any adjacent areas that are primarily involved in the building, repairing, loading or unloading of a vessel. In the case of a death, compensation benefits are to be paid to the deceased worker’s dependents.

The LHWCA covers traditional maritime workers including individuals involved in longshoring, harbor work, stevedoring, loading and offloading of vessels, ship construction and repair and other maritime construction. Certain types of workers are specifically excluded from recovery under the LHWCA including: any member of a vessel’s crew or its leader (seamen); individuals working with a small vessel under eighteen net tons; clerical and security staff; United States government employees; and other persons who do not normally engage in work expressly covered by the Act.

The experienced Maritime Accident Lawyers at Zehl & Associates understand the LHWCA and can help you find the right path following a devastating on-the-job injury. Call us today for a free, no committment consultation at 1-888-302-3838 or by clicking here. 

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