Parents do have the ability to bring wrongful death cases on behalf of their children, but these types of wrongful death cases are likely to involve lower settlements than those involving adults. Because a child was not a wage-earner at the time of his or her death, and there is no ability to measure future earnings, a settlement is likely to be lower than that awarded for a working adult. Furthermore, in some states, no wrongful death occurs unless a child is actually born alive, and then dies. In other words, some state laws do not permit wrongful death recovery where a fetus is lost in an accident. However, some states do permit this type of wrongful death lawsuit, or have other laws that are designed to compensate parents for this situation. Similarly, adult children can bring wrongful death lawsuits for the wrongful death of their elderly parents, but they will unable to claim loss of future support, since their parents are no longer supporting them, and there may be no claim for loss of future earnings, if the parents are retired.