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WPI 31.07 Wrongful Death and Survival Actions—No Contributory Negligence—Special Verdict Form

6 WAPRAC WPI 31.07Washington Practice Series TMWashington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

6 Wash. Prac., Wash. Pattern Jury Instr. Civ. WPI 31.07 (7th ed.)

Washington Practice Series TM

Washington Pattern Jury Instructions--Civil

April 2022 Update

Washington State Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions

Part IV. Damages

Chapter 31. Damages—Wrongful Death and Survival Actions

WPI 31.07 Wrongful Death and Survival Actions—No Contributory Negligence—Special Verdict Form

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON FOR COUNTY


,		NO.
as Personal
Representative
of the Estate of
		SPECIAL
,		VERDICT
	Plaintiff,	FORM

vs.

,
	Defendant.

We, the jury, answer the following questions submitted by the court:

QUESTION 1: Was(name of defendant)negligent?

ANSWER: (Write “yes” or “no”)

(INSTRUCTION: If you answered “no” to Question 1, do not answer any further questions; sign this verdict. If you answered “yes” to Question 1, answer Question 2.)

QUESTION 2: Was(name of defendant)'s negligence a proximate cause of the death of(name of decedent)?

ANSWER: (Write “yes” or “no”)

(INSTRUCTION: If you answered “no” to Question 2, do not answer any further questions; sign this verdict. If you answered “yes” to Question 2, answer Question 3.)

QUESTION 3: What do you find to be the amount of damages for each of the following:

A. Personal Damages of (name of decedent):	$
B. Damages of the Beneficiaries:
For (name of first beneficiary):	$
For (name of second beneficiary):	$
For (name of third beneficiary):	$

(INSTRUCTION: Sign this verdict and notify the bailiff.)

Dated this day of , 20 .

Presiding Juror

NOTE ON USE

This special verdict form is for use in wrongful death and survival actions that do not involve contributory negligence. For those wrongful death and survival actions that do involve contributory negligence, use WPI 31.07.01 (Wrongful Death and Survival Actions—Contributory Negligence—Special Verdict Form) instead of this special verdict form.

This special verdict form will need to be modified for cases involving multiple defendants or “empty chairs.” For assistance in this regard, see WPI 45.24 (Special Verdict Form—Personal Injury/Wrongful Death—Multiple Defendants—No Contributory Negligence—No “Empty Chairs”) or WPI 45.25 (Special Verdict Form—Personal Injury/Wrongful Death—Multiple Defendants—No Contributory Negligence—“Empty Chairs”).

For a personal injury case involving married co-plaintiffs, the verdict form and damage instruction should take into account the community property issues discussed in Brown v. Brown, 100 Wn.2d 729, 675 P.2d 1207 (1984). See the Comment to WPI 30.01.01 (Measure of Economic and Noneconomic Damages—Personal Injury—No Contributory Negligence).

Use WPI 1.11 (Concluding Instruction—For Special Verdict Form) with this verdict form.

COMMENT

For a discussion of the issues involved in drafting special verdict forms, see WPI Chapter 45 (Forms of Verdicts).

[Current as of October 2021.]

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