Full Text of HB2713 99th General Assembly
HB2713 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2015 and 2016 HB2713 Introduced , by Rep. Dan Brady SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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740 ILCS 180/2 | from Ch. 70, par. 2 |
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Amends the Wrongful Death Act. Provides that in an action where it has been proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant's intoxication contributed to, or proximately caused, the death of the deceased person, the jury may award punitive damages to the surviving spouse and next of kin of the deceased person.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 2 as follows:
| 6 | | (740 ILCS 180/2) (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
| 7 | | Sec. 2. Every such action shall be brought by and in the | 8 | | names of
the personal representatives of such deceased person, | 9 | | and, except as
otherwise hereinafter provided, the amount | 10 | | recovered in every such
action shall be for the exclusive | 11 | | benefit of the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such | 12 | | deceased person. In every such action the jury
may give such | 13 | | damages as they shall deem a fair and just compensation
with | 14 | | reference to the pecuniary
injuries resulting from such death, | 15 | | including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering, to
| 16 | | the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased person. | 17 | | In an action where it has been proven by a preponderance of the | 18 | | evidence that the defendant's intoxication contributed to, or | 19 | | proximately caused, the death of the deceased person, the jury | 20 | | may award punitive damages to the surviving spouse and next of | 21 | | kin of the deceased person.
| 22 | | The amount recovered in any such action shall be | 23 | | distributed by the
court in which the cause is heard or, in the |
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| 1 | | case of an agreed
settlement, by the circuit court, to each of | 2 | | the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such deceased person in | 3 | | the proportion, as determined by
the court, that the percentage | 4 | | of dependency of each such person upon
the deceased person | 5 | | bears to the sum of the percentages of dependency of
all such | 6 | | persons upon the deceased person.
| 7 | | Where the deceased person left no surviving spouse or next | 8 | | of kin
entitled to recovery, the damages shall, subject to the | 9 | | following
limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit of the | 10 | | following persons, or
any one or more of them:
| 11 | | (a) to the person or persons furnishing hospitalization or | 12 | | hospital
services in connection with the last illness or injury | 13 | | of the deceased
person, not exceeding $450;
| 14 | | (b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or surgical | 15 | | services
in connection with such last illness or injury, not | 16 | | exceeding $450;
| 17 | | (c) to the personal representatives, as such, for the costs | 18 | | and
expenses of administering the estate and prosecuting or | 19 | | compromising the
action, including a reasonable attorney's | 20 | | fee. In any such case the
measure of damages to be recovered | 21 | | shall be the total of the reasonable
value of such | 22 | | hospitalization or hospital service, medical and surgical
| 23 | | services, funeral expenses, and such costs and expenses of
| 24 | | administration, including attorney fees, not exceeding the | 25 | | foregoing
limitations for each class of such expenses and not | 26 | | exceeding $900 plus
a reasonable attorney's fee.
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| 1 | | Every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after | 2 | | the death
of such person but an action against a defendant | 3 | | arising from a crime committed
by the defendant in whose name | 4 | | an escrow account was established under the
"Criminal Victims' | 5 | | Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced within 2 years
after the | 6 | | establishment of such account. For the purposes of this Section
| 7 | | 2, next of kin includes
an adopting parent and an adopted | 8 | | child, and they shall be treated as a
natural parent and a | 9 | | natural child, respectively. However, if a person
entitled to | 10 | | recover benefits under this Act, is, at the time the cause
of | 11 | | action accrued, within the age of 18 years, he or she may cause | 12 | | such
action to be brought within 2 years after attainment of | 13 | | the age of 18.
| 14 | | In any such action to recover damages, it
shall not be a | 15 | | defense that the death was caused in whole or in part by
the | 16 | | contributory negligence of one or more of the beneficiaries on
| 17 | | behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of
damages | 18 | | given shall
be reduced in the following manner.
| 19 | | The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
| 20 | | contributory fault in accordance with Sections 2-1116 and | 21 | | 2-1107.1 of the Code
of Civil Procedure. Recovery of damages | 22 | | shall be barred or diminished
accordingly. The trier of fact | 23 | | shall then determine the contributory fault, if
any, of each | 24 | | beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
| 25 | | (1) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory | 26 | | fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is |
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| 1 | | brought is
not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the | 2 | | wrongful death of the
decedent, then the damages allowed to | 3 | | that beneficiary shall be
diminished in proportion to the
| 4 | | contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The | 5 | | amount of the reduction
shall not be
payable by any | 6 | | defendant.
| 7 | | (2) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory | 8 | | fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is | 9 | | brought is
more than 50% of the proximate cause of the | 10 | | wrongful death of the decedent,
then the beneficiary shall | 11 | | be barred from recovering damages and the amount of
damages | 12 | | which would have been payable to that beneficiary, but for | 13 | | the
beneficiary's contributory fault, shall not inure to | 14 | | the benefit of the
remaining beneficiaries and shall not be | 15 | | payable by any defendant.
| 16 | | The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine the | 17 | | degree of
dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent. The | 18 | | trial judge shall
calculate the amount of damages to be awarded | 19 | | each beneficiary, taking into
account any reduction arising | 20 | | from either the decedent's or the beneficiary's
contributory | 21 | | fault.
| 22 | | This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly applies to | 23 | | all actions
pending
on or filed after the effective date of | 24 | | this amendatory Act.
| 25 | | This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly applies to | 26 | | causes of actions accruing on or after its effective date.
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| 1 | | (Source: P.A. 95-3, eff. 5-31-07.)
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