After 10 years of fighting, the WSAJ, lobbyists, and families, finally prevailed in the legislature and passed a revision to the archaic wrongful death statute. The bill becomes law and is effective on July 28th 2019.
The new law allows those who could not bring wrongful death claims for the loss of loved ones to now be able to do so.
The prior law prevented claims for loss of love, companionship, and destruction of the parent-child relationship of adults who did not have spouses or children.
Only parents or siblings who were financially dependent upon their loved ones could pursue damages.
Parents and/or siblings of those who lost love ones, who were not married, and did not have children, were not able to pursue wrongful death damages and hold those accountable for damages for the loss.
Now parents or legal guardians have the right to bring claims for the wrongful death of their unmarried adult son or daughter — 18 years or older — if they have had “significant involvement” in their life.
The new law also removes the requirement that a parent must be a U.S. resident to bring a wrongful death claim.
The measure is retroactive, applying to all claims that are pending in court when the bill becomes law and also those that are not barred by the three-year statute of limitation.
The attorneys at GLP are strong advocates against those who have caused the wrongful deaths of your loved ones.