When someone you love is seriously injured in Nevada, the damage reaches beyond the person who was hurt. Nevada law recognizes that a spouse or registered domestic partner can suffer real, compensable losses when an injury disrupts the relationship they depend on. Loss of consortium is a separate legal claim that allows the non-injured spouse to pursue compensation for the benefits of the marital relationship that the injury has taken away.
If your spouse was injured and you have questions about your legal options, call Drummond Law Firm at (702) 366-9966 for a free consultation.
What Is Loss of Consortium Under Nevada Law?
Loss of consortium is a legal claim filed by the non-injured spouse or registered domestic partner of someone who was severely hurt or killed due to another person’s negligence. The claim addresses how the injury changed the marital relationship and seeks compensation for the relational losses the non-injured spouse has endured as a result.
NRS 41.085 governs consortium damages in wrongful death cases. The statute grants heirs the right to recover for grief, loss of support, companionship, society, comfort, and consortium. In cases where the injured spouse survived, Nevada courts apply the same consortium principles through personal injury law. You can file in either situation.
These are non-economic damages, which means they do not carry a fixed dollar value. Instead, their worth is measured by the severity of the impact on the marriage or partnership. A jury evaluates the evidence and assigns a dollar amount based on how the injury changed the relationship. Factors like the length of the marriage, the closeness of the bond before the injury, and the permanence of the harm all influence the outcome.
If your spouse or partner suffered a severe injury because of someone else’s conduct, this claim may belong to you, not to them.
Who Can File a Loss of Consortium Claim in Nevada?
Only a legally married spouse or a registered domestic partner can file a loss of consortium claim in Nevada. The marriage or partnership must have existed at the time the injury occurred.
NRS 122A.200 grants registered domestic partners the same legal rights, protections, and benefits as married spouses. The Nevada Court of Appeals confirmed this in Gholson v. Hampton Court Apts. in 2018. Registered domestic partners can pursue consortium damages on the same terms as married spouses. Unmarried partners, engaged couples, and cohabiting partners who have not registered their partnership cannot file these claims regardless of how long the relationship has lasted.
Children, parents, and siblings cannot file loss of consortium claims when the injured person is still alive. Nevada law limits the consortium cause of action to spouses and registered domestic partners in living injury cases. In wrongful death cases, family members may recover separately for grief, loss of support, and companionship under NRS 41.085. That is a separate legal pathway with its own set of rules.
If you are unsure whether your relationship qualifies, an attorney can review your circumstances and confirm your eligibility before the filing deadline passes.
What Do You Need to Prove in a Loss of Consortium Case?
A loss of consortium claim in Nevada requires you to prove four elements.
First, you must demonstrate that a valid marriage or registered domestic partnership existed at the time of the injury. A marriage certificate or domestic partnership registration satisfies this requirement.
Second, you must show that a measurable loss of consortium actually occurred. The injury must have caused a real and documented decline in your relationship. A general claim that things got worse is not enough. You need specific evidence of what changed and how.
Third, you must establish that the underlying injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct. The non-injured spouse does not need to prove fault independently. The fault determination from the injured spouse’s personal injury case carries over to the consortium claim.
Fourth, you must prove a direct connection between the wrongful injury and the consortium losses your relationship has suffered. If the relationship was already struggling before the accident, the defense will use that history to argue that the injury did not cause the decline.
Testimony from friends, family members, therapists, and medical professionals who observed the relationship before and after the injury is among the strongest evidence in these cases.
What Damages Does a Loss of Consortium Claim Cover?
Loss of consortium covers non-economic damages only. It does not include medical bills, lost wages, or other financial losses tied to the injured spouse’s claim. The consortium claim compensates the non-injured spouse for the relational and emotional harm the injury caused to the marriage or partnership.
Companionship covers the loss of daily emotional connection, shared experiences, and the presence of a partner who is fully engaged in the relationship. An injury that leaves a spouse unable to participate in family life, social activities, or routine conversation affects this category directly.
Intimacy covers the loss of physical and sexual closeness that the injury has reduced or eliminated. This is often the most difficult element for clients to discuss, but Nevada courts treat it as a legitimate and recoverable component of the claim.
Household services cover the loss of shared responsibilities like childcare, cooking, home maintenance, and other daily tasks the injured spouse can no longer perform. The non-injured spouse who absorbs all of these duties is entitled to compensation for that shift.
Emotional support covers the loss of moral guidance, comfort, and stability your partner once provided. Nevada places no cap on non-economic damages in personal injury cases outside of medical malpractice, so a jury can award the full amount it believes your losses warrant.
How Is a Loss of Consortium Claim Connected to the Injury Case?
A loss of consortium claim is a derivative claim. It does not stand on its own. Its outcome depends entirely on whether the injured spouse can prove the elements of a valid personal injury or wrongful death case against the at-fault party. If the underlying case fails, the consortium claim fails with it.
Nevada’s modified comparative negligence rule under NRS 41.141 applies to both claims simultaneously. If a jury assigns the injured spouse more than 50 percent of the fault for the accident, neither the injured spouse nor the non-injured spouse recovers anything. A fault finding of 30 percent on a $400,000 combined claim would reduce both awards proportionally.
The consortium claim is typically filed as part of the same lawsuit rather than as a separate action. Both spouses appear in the same case, but their damages are calculated independently. The injured spouse’s damages cover medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering. The non-injured spouse’s damages cover the relational losses the injury caused to the marriage.
Both claims rise and fall together, and the outcome of one directly determines the outcome of the other.
What Happens If the Injured Spouse Settles Without Accounting for Consortium?
If the injured spouse signs a settlement agreement that resolves the personal injury claim, the loss of consortium claim is extinguished along with it. The settlement closes both cases, even if the non-injured spouse was never consulted and never signed anything.
This is the single most common way that consortium claims are lost in Nevada. Many injured spouses negotiate directly with the insurance company or through their own attorney without realizing that their partner had a separate claim that just disappeared with the settlement. The non-injured spouse finds out too late that their legal right to compensation no longer exists.
Once the settlement is signed, there is no path to reopen the consortium claim. The amount the injured spouse accepted is treated as the final resolution for both parties, regardless of whether the consortium losses were ever evaluated or included in the number.
Both spouses should be represented by counsel before any settlement is signed. The consortium claim must be valued and included in the negotiation. Without that step, the non-injured spouse’s losses can be traded away in exchange for a faster resolution of the injured spouse’s case.
How Long Do You Have to File a Loss of Consortium Claim?
Nevada gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a loss of consortium claim under NRS 11.190. This deadline runs on the same clock as the injured spouse’s personal injury case, so both claims must be filed within the same window.
If the consortium claim arises from a wrongful death, the two-year clock starts on the date of death rather than the date of the initial injury. That gap can shift your filing deadline by months when the injured spouse survived for a period before passing away.
Missing the filing deadline permanently bars the non-injured spouse from recovering consortium damages. The strength of your evidence, the severity of the impact on your marriage, and the clarity of the other driver’s fault all become irrelevant once the window closes. Filing early protects the claim and gives your legal team the time it needs to document what your relationship has lost.
What Sets Drummond Law Firm Apart?
Most law firms treat loss of consortium as an afterthought. The injured spouse’s medical bills and lost wages get the attention. The non-injured spouse’s claim gets added to the file late in the process, if it gets added at all. By that point, the evidence window has narrowed and the settlement negotiation is already underway.
Drummond Law Firm evaluates consortium claims from the first consultation. We document the non-injured spouse’s losses early, retain therapists and relationship counselors as expert witnesses when needed, and ensure the consortium claim is valued before any settlement discussion begins.
Our founding attorney’s background as a former JAG officer means we prepare every case with the discipline and precision that consortium claims require. These claims depend on evidence that is personal and difficult to present. We build the record carefully so that when the case reaches the negotiation table or the courtroom, the non-injured spouse’s losses are supported by facts rather than generalities.
How Drummond Law Firm Can Help
Drummond Law Firm represents spouses and registered domestic partners pursuing loss of consortium claims across Las Vegas and Clark County. We handle these claims alongside the injured spouse’s personal injury or wrongful death case. Both claims are coordinated from the start, and neither is sacrificed in a settlement negotiation.
Craig Drummond, a former U.S. Army Captain and Bronze Star recipient, brings military discipline and a proven trial record to every case his firm handles. He has secured multi-million-dollar results for clients throughout Nevada, and his willingness to take cases to trial is what keeps insurance companies from treating your claim as disposable.
Our Reduced Fee Guarantee ensures we will never take more than the client receives in a settlement. You will not pay a fee unless we win your case, so call the Captain today at (702) 366-9966 to schedule a free consultation.