Public Act 095-0003
 
HB1798 Enrolled LRB095 08371 AJO 28544 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing
Section 2 as follows:
 
    (740 ILCS 180/2)  (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
    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
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.
    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
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.
    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.
    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:
    (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;
    (b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or surgical
services in connection with such last illness or injury, not
exceeding $450;
    (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
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
services, funeral expenses, and such costs and expenses of
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.
    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
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.
    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
behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of damages
given shall be reduced in the following manner.
    The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
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:
        (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
    contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The
    amount of the reduction shall not be payable by any
    defendant.
        (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.
    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
from either the decedent's or the beneficiary's contributory
fault.
    This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly applies to
all actions pending on or filed after the effective date of
this amendatory Act.
    This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly applies to
causes of actions accruing on or after its effective date.
(Source: P.A. 91-380, eff. 7-30-99.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.