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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.