State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB1771

 
                                               LRB9101267DJcd

 1        AN ACT to  amend  the  Wrongful  Death  Act  by  changing
 2    Section 2.

 3        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:

 5        Section 5.  The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing
 6    Section 2 as follows:

 7        (740 ILCS 180/2) (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
 8        (Text of Section WITHOUT the changes made by  P.A.  89-7,
 9    which has been held unconstitutional)
10        Sec. 2.  Every such action shall be brought by and in the
11    names  of  the  personal  representatives  of  such  deceased
12    person,  and,  except  as otherwise hereinafter provided, the
13    amount recovered in  every  such  action  shall  be  for  the
14    exclusive  benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin of
15    such deceased person and in every such action  the  jury  may
16    give  such  damages  as  they  shall  deem  a  fair  and just
17    compensation  with  reference  to  the   pecuniary   injuries
18    resulting  from  such death, to the surviving spouse and next
19    of kin of such deceased person.
20        In every such action, the jury shall determine the amount
21    of damages to be recovered without  regard  to  and  with  no
22    special  instruction  as  to  the  dollar  limits on recovery
23    imposed by this Section.  In  no  event  shall  the  judgment
24    entered  upon  such  verdict  exceed $20,000 where such death
25    occurred prior to July 14, 1955, and  not  exceeding  $25,000
26    where such death occurred on or after July 14, 1955 and prior
27    to  July  8, 1957, and not exceeding $30,000 where such death
28    occurs on or after July 8, 1957 and prior  to  the  effective
29    date  of  this amendatory Act of 1967, and without limitation
30    where such death occurs on or after  the  effective  date  of
31    this amendatory Act of 1967.
 
                            -2-                LRB9101267DJcd
 1        The   amount  recovered  in  any  such  action  shall  be
 2    distributed by the court in which the cause is heard  or,  in
 3    the  case  of  an agreed settlement, by the circuit court, to
 4    each of the surviving spouse and next of kin of such deceased
 5    person in the proportion, as determined by  the  court,  that
 6    the  percentage  of  dependency  of each such person upon the
 7    deceased person bears  to  the  sum  of  the  percentages  of
 8    dependency of all such persons upon the deceased person.
 9        Where  the  deceased  person  left no surviving spouse or
10    next of kin entitled to recovery, the damages shall,  subject
11    to  the following limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit
12    of the following persons, or any one or more of them:
13        (a)  to the person or persons furnishing  hospitalization
14    or  hospital  services in connection with the last illness or
15    injury of the deceased person, not exceeding $450;
16        (b)  to the  person  or  persons  furnishing  medical  or
17    surgical  services  in  connection  with such last illness or
18    injury, not exceeding $450;
19        (c)  to the personal representatives, as  such,  for  the
20    costs   and   expenses   of   administering  the  estate  and
21    prosecuting  or  compromising   the   action,   including   a
22    reasonable  attorney's  fee.  In any such case the measure of
23    damages to be recovered shall be the total of the  reasonable
24    value  of  such  hospitalization or hospital service, medical
25    and surgical services, funeral expenses, and such  costs  and
26    expenses  of  administration,  including  attorney  fees, not
27    exceeding the foregoing limitations for each  class  of  such
28    expenses  and not exceeding $900 plus a reasonable attorney's
29    fee.
30        Every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after
31    the death of such person but an action  against  a  defendant
32    arising from a crime committed by the defendant in whose name
33    an   escrow  account  was  established  under  the  "Criminal
34    Victims' Escrow Account Act"  shall  be  commenced  within  2
 
                            -3-                LRB9101267DJcd
 1    years  after  the  establishment  of  such  account.  For the
 2    purposes of this Section 2, next of kin includes an  adopting
 3    parent  and  an adopted child, and they shall be treated as a
 4    natural parent and a natural child, respectively. However, if
 5    a person entitled to recover benefits under this Act, is,  at
 6    the  time  the  cause of action accrued, within the age of 18
 7    years, he or she may cause such action to be brought within 2
 8    years after attainment of the age of 18.
 9        In any such action to recover damages where the  wrongful
10    act,  neglect  or  default  causing  the death occurred on or
11    after July 14, 1955, it shall not be a defense that the death
12    was caused in whole or in part by the contributory negligence
13    of one or more of the beneficiaries on  behalf  of  whom  the
14    action  is  brought, but the amount of damages given shall be
15    reduced in the following manner.
16        The trier of fact shall first  determine  the  decedent's
17    contributory  fault  in  accordance  with Sections 2-1116 and
18    2-1107.1 of the Code of Civil Procedure.  Recovery of damages
19    shall be barred or diminished accordingly. The trier of  fact
20    shall  then determine the contributory fault, if any, of each
21    beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
22             (1)  Where  the  trier  of  fact  finds   that   the
23        contributory  fault  of a beneficiary on whose behalf the
24        action is brought is not more than 50% of  the  proximate
25        cause  of  the  wrongful  death of the decedent, then the
26        damages allowed to that beneficiary shall  be  diminished
27        in  proportion  to  the  contributory fault attributed to
28        that beneficiary.  The amount of the reduction shall  not
29        be payable by any defendant.
30             (2)  Where   the   trier  of  fact  finds  that  the
31        contributory fault of a beneficiary on whose  behalf  the
32        action is brought is more than 50% of the proximate cause
33        of   the   wrongful  death  of  the  decedent,  then  the
34        beneficiary shall be barred from recovering  damages  and
 
                            -4-                LRB9101267DJcd
 1        the  amount  of  damages which would have been payable to
 2        that beneficiary, but for the beneficiary's  contributory
 3        fault,  shall  not  inure to the benefit of the remaining
 4        beneficiaries and shall not be payable by any defendant.
 5        The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine  the
 6    degree  of  dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent.
 7    The trial judge shall calculate the amount of damages  to  be
 8    awarded  each  beneficiary, taking into account any reduction
 9    arising from  either  the  decedent's  or  the  beneficiary's
10    contributory   fault.   not  include  any  compensation  with
11    reference to  the  pecuniary  injuries  resulting  from  such
12    death,  to  such  contributorily negligent person or persons,
13    and such contributorily negligent person or persons shall not
14    share in any amount recovered in such action.
15        This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly  applies
16    to  all  actions pending on or filed after the effective date
17    of this amendatory Act.
18    (Source: P.A. 81-906.)

19        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
20    becoming law.

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