A wrongful death settlement occurs in the vast majority of wrongful death cases. In many instances, a lawsuit is never even filed in a court; rather, the insurance company that is responsible for covering the potentially liable party in a wrongful death case is able to reach a settlement with the victim's family and/or attorney outside of court. While available compensation through a wrongful death settlement varies from state to state, most state wrongful death laws generally provide that immediate family members are able to recover the direct costs of the accident, such as medical bills and funeral expenses, as well as more intangible costs, such as the loss of future earnings and support for the deceased person. Likewise, the scope of a wrongful death settlement is dependent on state law governing available damages, and the facts involved in the situation. For these reasons, the wrongful death of a child, while equally tragic, is not likely to bring about the same amount of settlement as for a 35-year-old professional who supports a spouse and children; since the child had demonstrated no earning capacity at the time of his or her death, and did not support any dependents, the pecuniary loss is simply less.