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91_HB1771enr HB1771 Enrolled 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. HB1771 Enrolled -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 HB1771 Enrolled -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 damageswhere the wrongful10act, neglect or default causing the death occurred on or11after 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 HB1771 Enrolled -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 with11reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting from such12death, to such contributorily negligent person or persons,13and such contributorily negligent person or persons shall not14share 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.