Texas Legal Glossary · Personal Injury

Loss of Consortium

Written and reviewed by Shane M. Boasberg, founder of SMB Law, PC · Licensed in Texas since 2003 · Updated October 2026

Definition: Loss of consortium is a Texas claim by a spouse, or by a child whose parent is seriously injured, for the loss of love, companionship, and society caused by the injury. It is derivative, so it rises or falls with the injured person’s own claim.

Also called: consortium claim, loss of companionship

What loss of consortium means in Texas

Loss of consortium compensates a family member for what an injury to someone else took from them. The Texas Supreme Court recognized the spouse’s claim in Whittlesey v. Miller, 572 S.W.2d 665 (Tex. 1978): a husband or wife may recover for the loss of the injured spouse’s affection, companionship, comfort, society, and sexual relationship. The claim does not cover lost income or household services, which belong to the injured spouse.

In Reagan v. Vaughn, 804 S.W.2d 463 (Tex. 1990), the Court extended a claim to a child whose parent suffers a serious, permanent, and disabling injury. The Court drew a line in Roberts v. Williamson, 111 S.W.3d 113 (Tex. 2003): a parent has no consortium claim for a non-fatal injury to a child. Siblings and unmarried partners have no claim at all.

How it works in practice

Consortium is a derivative claim. It exists only because the injured family member has a valid claim, so if the injured person loses on liability, or their recovery is reduced for their own share of fault under Chapter 33, the consortium claimant is affected in the same way. The spouse or child is a separate plaintiff with a separate damages question submitted to the jury.

Proof is testimony about the marriage or the parent-child relationship before and after the injury. Juries look for concrete change: a spouse who became a caregiver, a parent who can no longer coach or travel, a household that has reorganized around a wheelchair. For a child’s claim, the parent’s injury must be serious and permanent; a broken arm will not support it. In a fatal case, these losses are instead recovered through wrongful death damages for loss of companionship and society.

Why it matters in your case

Consortium adds a plaintiff and a damages category to a serious injury case, and it gives the jury a second witness to what the injury did to a family. It also carries a cost. The spouse’s own medical and counseling history, the state of the marriage, and any separation become fair game in discovery. We raise the claim when the injury is severe enough to justify that exposure.

Example

Carla’s husband suffers a traumatic brain injury when a semi-truck rear-ends him on I-35 near Buda. He survives but his personality, memory, and ability to parent are permanently changed. Carla brings a loss of consortium claim alongside his injury claim, and their 12-year-old daughter brings a parental consortium claim under Reagan v. Vaughn. Carla’s father, who lives with them, has no claim.

This entry explains Texas law in general terms and is not legal advice for any specific situation. Statutes and case law change; the date above reflects the last review.