When Clean Becomes Complicated: Legal Perspectives on Loss of Housekeeping Capacity
2024.10.29 //
Author: Silvia Purcarin
Loss of housekeeping capacity is an important, but often overlooked component of damages in personal injury cases. Loss of housekeeping capacity refers to a gradual or sudden inability to manage household tasks required for the maintenance of a functional household and it can encompass a wide range of household tasks, including cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work and even childcare duties.
Some key principles regarding loss of housekeeping capacity include:
1. An award of damages for loss of homemaking capacity is intended to compensate the plaintiff for the lost value of work that the plaintiff would have undertaken, but is now incapable of performing.
2. The loss is compensable either under a distinct head of damages or under any of the other, more familiar heads of damages, including non-pecuniary damages, special damages or cost of future care. This allocation depends on the specific circumstances of each case.
3. There is no judicial consensus as to the cut-off age for awards for loss of housekeeping capacity.