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1 | AN ACT concerning civil law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Wrongful Death Act is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Section 2 as follows:
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6 | (740 ILCS 180/2) (from Ch. 70, par. 2)
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7 | Sec. 2. Every such action shall be brought by and in the | ||||||
8 | names of
the personal representatives of such deceased person, | ||||||
9 | and, except as
otherwise hereinafter provided, the amount | ||||||
10 | recovered in every such
action shall be for the exclusive | ||||||
11 | benefit of the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such | ||||||
12 | deceased person . In
and in every such action the jury
may give | ||||||
13 | such damages as they shall deem a fair and just compensation
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14 | with reference to the pecuniary
injuries resulting from such | ||||||
15 | death , including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental | ||||||
16 | suffering , to
the surviving spouse and next of kin of such | ||||||
17 | deceased person.
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18 | In every such action, the jury shall determine the amount | ||||||
19 | of damages
to be recovered without regard to and with no | ||||||
20 | special instruction as to
the dollar limits on recovery imposed | ||||||
21 | by this Section.
In no event shall
the judgment entered upon | ||||||
22 | such verdict exceed $20,000 where such death
occurred prior to | ||||||
23 | July 14, 1955, and not exceeding $25,000 where such
death |
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1 | occurred on or after July 14, 1955 and prior to July 8, 1957, | ||||||
2 | and
not exceeding $30,000 where such death occurs on or after | ||||||
3 | July 8, 1957
and prior to the effective date of this amendatory | ||||||
4 | Act of 1967, and
without limitation where such death occurs on | ||||||
5 | or after the effective
date of this amendatory Act of 1967.
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6 | The amount recovered in any such action shall be | ||||||
7 | distributed by the
court in which the cause is heard or, in the | ||||||
8 | case of an agreed
settlement, by the circuit court, to each of | ||||||
9 | the surviving spouse and
next of kin of such deceased person in | ||||||
10 | the proportion, as determined by
the court, that the percentage | ||||||
11 | of dependency of each such person upon
the deceased person | ||||||
12 | bears to the sum of the percentages of dependency of
all such | ||||||
13 | persons upon the deceased person.
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14 | Where the deceased person left no surviving spouse or next | ||||||
15 | of kin
entitled to recovery, the damages shall, subject to the | ||||||
16 | following
limitations inure, to the exclusive benefit of the | ||||||
17 | following persons, or
any one or more of them:
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18 | (a) to the person or persons furnishing hospitalization or | ||||||
19 | hospital
services in connection with the last illness or injury | ||||||
20 | of the deceased
person, not exceeding $450;
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21 | (b) to the person or persons furnishing medical or surgical | ||||||
22 | services
in connection with such last illness or injury, not | ||||||
23 | exceeding $450;
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24 | (c) to the personal representatives, as such, for the costs | ||||||
25 | and
expenses of administering the estate and prosecuting or | ||||||
26 | compromising the
action, including a reasonable attorney's |
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1 | fee. In any such case the
measure of damages to be recovered | ||||||
2 | shall be the total of the reasonable
value of such | ||||||
3 | hospitalization or hospital service, medical and surgical
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4 | services, funeral expenses, and such costs and expenses of
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5 | administration, including attorney fees, not exceeding the | ||||||
6 | foregoing
limitations for each class of such expenses and not | ||||||
7 | exceeding $900 plus
a reasonable attorney's fee.
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8 | Every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after | ||||||
9 | the death
of such person but an action against a defendant | ||||||
10 | arising from a crime committed
by the defendant in whose name | ||||||
11 | an escrow account was established under the
"Criminal Victims' | ||||||
12 | Escrow Account Act" shall be commenced within 2 years
after the | ||||||
13 | establishment of such account. For the purposes of this Section
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14 | 2, next of kin includes
an adopting parent and an adopted | ||||||
15 | child, and they shall be treated as a
natural parent and a | ||||||
16 | natural child, respectively. However, if a person
entitled to | ||||||
17 | recover benefits under this Act, is, at the time the cause
of | ||||||
18 | action accrued, within the age of 18 years, he or she may cause | ||||||
19 | such
action to be brought within 2 years after attainment of | ||||||
20 | the age of 18.
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21 | In any such action to recover damages, it
shall not be a | ||||||
22 | defense that the death was caused in whole or in part by
the | ||||||
23 | contributory negligence of one or more of the beneficiaries on
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24 | behalf of whom the action is brought, but the amount of
damages | ||||||
25 | given shall
be reduced in the following manner.
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26 | The trier of fact shall first determine the decedent's
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1 | contributory fault in accordance with Sections 2-1116 and | ||||||
2 | 2-1107.1 of the Code
of Civil Procedure. Recovery of damages | ||||||
3 | shall be barred or diminished
accordingly. The trier of fact | ||||||
4 | shall then determine the contributory fault, if
any, of each | ||||||
5 | beneficiary on behalf of whom the action was brought:
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6 | (1) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory | ||||||
7 | fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is | ||||||
8 | brought is
not more than 50% of the proximate cause of the | ||||||
9 | wrongful death of the
decedent, then the damages allowed to | ||||||
10 | that beneficiary shall be
diminished in proportion to the
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11 | contributory fault attributed to that beneficiary. The | ||||||
12 | amount of the reduction
shall not be
payable by any | ||||||
13 | defendant.
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14 | (2) Where the trier of fact finds that the contributory | ||||||
15 | fault of a
beneficiary on whose behalf the action is | ||||||
16 | brought is
more than 50% of the proximate cause of the | ||||||
17 | wrongful death of the decedent,
then the beneficiary shall | ||||||
18 | be barred from recovering damages and the amount of
damages | ||||||
19 | which would have been payable to that beneficiary, but for | ||||||
20 | the
beneficiary's contributory fault, shall not inure to | ||||||
21 | the benefit of the
remaining beneficiaries and shall not be | ||||||
22 | payable by any defendant.
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23 | The trial judge shall conduct a hearing to determine the | ||||||
24 | degree of
dependency of each beneficiary upon the decedent. The | ||||||
25 | trial judge shall
calculate the amount of damages to be awarded | ||||||
26 | each beneficiary, taking into
account any reduction arising |
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1 | from either the decedent's or the beneficiary's
contributory | ||||||
2 | fault.
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3 | This amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly applies to | ||||||
4 | all actions
pending
on or filed after the effective date of | ||||||
5 | this amendatory Act.
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6 | This amendatory Act of the 95th General Assembly applies to | ||||||
7 | causes of actions accruing on or after its effective date.
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8 | (Source: P.A. 91-380, eff. 7-30-99.)
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9 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
10 | becoming law.
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