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Public Act 095-0003
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| HB1798 Enrolled |
LRB095 08371 AJO 28544 b |
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing |
Section 2 as follows:
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(740 ILCS 180/2) (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
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Sec. 2. Every such action shall be brought by and in the |
names of
the personal representatives of such deceased person, |
and, except as
otherwise hereinafter provided, the amount |
recovered in every such
action shall be for the exclusive |
benefit of the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such |
deceased person. In
and in every such action the jury
may give |
such damages as they shall deem a fair and just compensation
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with reference to the pecuniary
injuries resulting from such |
death, including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental |
suffering, to
the surviving spouse and next of kin of such |
deceased person.
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In every such action, the jury shall determine the amount |
of damages
to be recovered without regard to and with no |
special instruction as to
the dollar limits on recovery imposed |
by this Section.
In no event shall
the judgment entered upon |
such verdict exceed $20,000 where such death
occurred prior to |
July 14, 1955, and not exceeding $25,000 where such
death |
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occurred on or after July 14, 1955 and prior to July 8, 1957, |
and
not exceeding $30,000 where such death occurs on or after |
July 8, 1957
and prior to the effective date of this amendatory |
Act of 1967, and
without limitation where such death occurs on |
or after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1967.
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The amount recovered in any such action shall be |
distributed by the
court in which the cause is heard or, in the |
case of an agreed
settlement, by the circuit court, to each of |
the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such deceased person in |
the proportion, as determined by
the court, that the percentage |
of dependency of each such person upon
the deceased person |
bears to the sum of the percentages of dependency of
all such |
persons upon the deceased person.
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Where the deceased person left no surviving spouse or next |
of kin
entitled to recovery, the damages shall, subject to the |
following
limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit of the |
following persons, or
any one or more of them:
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(a) to the person or persons furnishing hospitalization or |
hospital
services in connection with the last illness or injury |
of the deceased
person, not exceeding $450;
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(b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or surgical |
services
in connection with such last illness or injury, not |
exceeding $450;
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(c) to the personal representatives, as such, for the costs |
and
expenses of administering the estate and prosecuting or |
compromising the
action, including a reasonable attorney's |
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fee. In any such case the
measure of damages to be recovered |
shall be the total of the reasonable
value of such |
hospitalization or hospital service, medical and surgical
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services, funeral expenses, and such costs and expenses of
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administration, including attorney fees, not exceeding the |
foregoing
limitations for each class of such expenses and not |
exceeding $900 plus
a reasonable attorney's fee.
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Every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after |
the death
of such person but an action against a defendant |
arising from a crime committed
by the defendant in whose name |
an escrow account was established under the
"Criminal Victims' |
Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced within 2 years
after the |
establishment of such account. For the purposes of this Section
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2, next of kin includes
an adopting parent and an adopted |
child, and they shall be treated as a
natural parent and a |
natural child, respectively. However, if a person
entitled to |
recover benefits under this Act, is, at the time the cause
of |
action accrued, within the age of 18 years, he or she may cause |
such
action to be brought within 2 years after attainment of |
the age of 18.
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In any such action to recover damages, it
shall not be a |
defense that the death was caused in whole or in part by
the |
contributory negligence of one or more of the beneficiaries on
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behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of
damages |
given shall
be reduced in the following manner.
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The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
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contributory fault in accordance with Sections 2-1116 and |
2-1107.1 of the Code
of Civil Procedure. Recovery of damages |
shall be barred or diminished
accordingly. The trier of fact |
shall then determine the contributory fault, if
any, of each |
beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
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(1) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory |
fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is |
brought is
not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the |
wrongful death of the
decedent, then the damages allowed to |
that beneficiary shall be
diminished in proportion to the
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contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The |
amount of the reduction
shall not be
payable by any |
defendant.
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(2) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory |
fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is |
brought is
more than 50% of the proximate cause of the |
wrongful death of the decedent,
then the beneficiary shall |
be barred from recovering damages and the amount of
damages |
which would have been payable to that beneficiary, but for |
the
beneficiary's contributory fault, shall not inure to |
the benefit of the
remaining beneficiaries and shall not be |
payable by any defendant.
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The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine the |
degree of
dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent. The |
trial judge shall
calculate the amount of damages to be awarded |
each beneficiary, taking into
account any reduction arising |