A person’s contribution to a family may include far more than wages. A decedent may have provided childcare, transportation, household work, care for a relative, help with appointments, safety planning, family coordination, practical instruction, companionship, or advice. Reconstructing that history requires dates, recipients, frequency, context, and sources rather than a single description that the person “did everything.”

A contribution record should identify the person who received a service, care, assistance, companionship, guidance, or advice; what occurred; how often; during which period; and which record or witness can describe it from personal knowledge.

Keep the statutory categories visible

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 28A-18-2 identifies categories recoverable in a North Carolina wrongful-death action. Among them is the present monetary value of the decedent to persons entitled to receive the recovery, including reasonably expected net income; services, protection, care, and assistance; and society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices, and advice. The statute also addresses other categories and the action’s personal-representative framework. This record does not decide value; it organizes evidence relevant to the listed categories.

  • Net income kept separate from unpaid services and personal contributions
  • Services, protection, care, and assistance described as acts, schedules, recipients, and sources
  • Society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices, and advice described through concrete interactions rather than labels alone
  • Past practice kept separate from an opinion about what was reasonably expected in a later period

Build one row for each recipient and contribution

  • Recipient, relationship, household, location, relevant period, and any change in circumstances
  • Task or interaction, frequency, duration, regular schedule, seasonal pattern, on-call role, and person who observed it
  • Contemporaneous record, device or account, custodian, date range, and method used to preserve it
  • Interruption, delegation, shared responsibility, outside provider, illness, relocation, separation, or other circumstance that changed the pattern

Document household and practical services

  • Meal preparation, shopping, cleaning, laundry, maintenance, repairs, yard work, pet care, budgeting, bill payment, and household scheduling
  • School transportation, activity transportation, appointment transportation, errands, and trip coordination
  • Childcare, homework support, bedtime or morning routines, school communication, and activity supervision
  • Care for an older adult, person with a disability, or other relative, including transportation, reminders, meals, paperwork, and coordination as actually performed

Possible records include calendars, messages, school or activity communications, receipts, shared-account entries, appointment logs, photographs, maintenance records, and witness accounts. A payment or calendar entry may corroborate part of a task, but it may not reveal who performed it, how long it took, or whether the pattern continued without other evidence.

Describe protection, care, and assistance without medical assumptions

  • Safety checks, transportation, mobility help, meal assistance, medication reminders as observed, appointment coordination, and emergency contacts
  • Person receiving assistance, task, setting, frequency, period, and whether responsibility was shared
  • Formal care plan, provider record, family schedule, message, or witness used only for what that source actually shows
  • Medical condition, clinical need, prognosis, or replacement service not inferred from a family description without an appropriate foundation

Record companionship, comfort, guidance, and advice through events

  • Regular calls, visits, meals, activities, celebrations, religious or community participation, travel, and family routines
  • Guidance about school, work, parenting, finances, health decisions, household choices, or life events tied to the person who received it
  • Support during illness, grief, conflict, transition, or emergency described by a witness who perceived the interaction
  • Frequency and continuity shown with representative examples without collecting unrelated private details

North Carolina Rule of Evidence 701 limits a nonexpert opinion or inference to one rationally based on the witness’s perception and helpful to understanding the testimony or determining a fact in issue. A witness worksheet can separate what the person saw or heard, how often, during what period, and what record refreshes recollection from a conclusion outside personal perception.

Create a source map without over-collecting

  • Witness name, relationship, contact information, period of observation, activities observed, and boundaries of knowledge
  • Calendar, text, email, photograph, video, school record, caregiving schedule, appointment entry, receipt, account record, or household document identified by custodian and date
  • Original file, export method, metadata when available, access authority, correction, and later version preserved
  • Private family communications limited to material reasonably connected to the contribution being documented

North Carolina Rule of Evidence 901 addresses evidence sufficient to support a finding that an item is what its proponent claims. Preserve the person with knowledge, source account, original file, identifying characteristics, and collection method. A compilation should remain traceable to the underlying records instead of becoming an unsupported summary.

Treat replacement cost as one input, not an automatic measure

  • Outside-service estimate identifies provider, task, location, frequency, duration, assumptions, date, and included or excluded work
  • Paid replacement service kept separate from an estimate for work no one has hired
  • Household member’s time, changed schedule, donated help, and discontinued activity recorded without assigning a price by assumption
  • No single hourly rate applied to companionship, guidance, advice, and household services as though they were identical categories

Keep the record tied to the entitled person and time period

  • Each recipient’s relationship and role considered separately
  • Historical contribution, circumstances at death, and evidence bearing on reasonably expected continuation placed in separate fields
  • Age, health, household, employment, caregiving responsibilities, and plans recorded only when supported and relevant
  • Disagreement among family members or records preserved as a discrepancy rather than silently harmonized

The related North Carolina wrongful-death framework guide covers who brings the action, the statutory structure, distribution, and the broader categories of recovery. This page owns the narrower contribution ledger for services, care, companionship, guidance, and advice.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides general information about North Carolina wrongful-death claims involving family-contribution evidence. Recoverability, admissibility, and value depend on the statute, the persons involved, the evidence, and the individual circumstances.

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