66.303 Tort Damages; Life Expectancy; Annuity Tables

66.303 Tort Damages; Life Expectancy; Annuity Tables (The following should be used in connection with cases involving temporary or permanent loss of future earnings when annuity tables have been introduced in evidence.) When you have satisfied yourselves what the average annual future loss of income of (plaintiff) (deceased) would be, you would then figure the cash value for the person's life. In order to aid you in coming to a conclusion on that point, (number of) annuity tables are in evidence before you. An annuity is a sum a person is entitled to per year during that person's whole life. Sometimes there is a sale of that annuity for which the present cash value of it must be determined. An award of damages for permanent loss of earnings amounts to a forced sale of lifetime earnings. This table is made to show the present cash value of an annuity, according to the age of the person entitled to an annuity. Turn to that table that is before you for the purpose of aiding you in measuring damages for loss of future earnings. Take the average annual loss of future income of (plaintiff) (deceased) and the age of the (plaintiff) (deceased). You would then consult the annuity tables and find opposite the age the present value of an annuity of $1.00 per year for the expected remaining life of a person of that age discounted at the __________ percentage indicated, depending on which you select. You would multiply that present value of the $1.00 annuity from the table by the average annual loss of future earnings, and that would be the present cash value if the plaintiff (deceased) were recovering an annuity of that sum, or entitled to an annuity of that sum for and during that person's remaining life. That would be the sum you are trying to arrive at. In using your annuity table, you would be entitled to use a rate of interest of five percent. O.C.G.A. §51-12-13 Atlanta, etc., R.R. Co. v. Johnson, 66 Ga. 259, 263 (1881) Kitchens v. Hall, 116 Ga. App. 41, 43 (1967) Florida, etc., R.R. Co. v. Burney, 98 Ga. 1 (1894) An annuity table is based on an average length of life as shown by mortality tables from which it is figured. You do not have to use the annuity table introduced to you in any way. Such a table is just a guide that you may follow or not as you see fit, while considering the evidence as a whole. (See note to 66.201 Tort Damages; Earnings; Loss of Future Earnings. If a more elaborate charge on annuity tables is desired, an adaptation of the charge in Florida, etc., R.R. Co. v. Burney, 98 Ga. 1 (1894) is recommended.)