Bill Text: FL S0476 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Rules [S0476 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0476-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 476
       
       
        
       By Senator Grall
       
       
       
       
       
       29-00469-24                                            2024476__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to civil liability; reordering and
    3         amending s. 768.18, F.S.; revising the definition of
    4         the term “survivors” to include the parents of an
    5         unborn child; amending s. 768.21, F.S.; authorizing
    6         parents of an unborn child to recover certain damages;
    7         providing an effective date.
    8          
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         Section 1. Section 768.18, Florida Statutes, is reordered
   12  and amended to read:
   13         768.18 Definitions.—As used in ss. 768.16-768.26:
   14         (5)(1) “Survivors” means the decedent’s spouse, children,
   15  parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent
   16  for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive
   17  brothers and sisters. It includes the child born out of wedlock
   18  of a mother, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father
   19  unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the
   20  child’s support. It also includes the parents of an unborn
   21  child.
   22         (1)(2) “Minor children” means children under 25 years of
   23  age, notwithstanding the age of majority.
   24         (4)(3) “Support” includes contributions in kind as well as
   25  money.
   26         (3)(4) “Services” means tasks, usually of a household
   27  nature, regularly performed by the decedent that will be a
   28  necessary expense to the survivors of the decedent. These
   29  services may vary according to the identity of the decedent and
   30  survivor and shall be determined under the particular facts of
   31  each case.
   32         (2)(5) “Net accumulations” means the part of the decedent’s
   33  expected net business or salary income, including pension
   34  benefits, that the decedent probably would have retained as
   35  savings and left as part of her or his estate if the decedent
   36  had lived her or his normal life expectancy. “Net business or
   37  salary income” is the part of the decedent’s probable gross
   38  income after taxes, excluding income from investments continuing
   39  beyond death, that remains after deducting the decedent’s
   40  personal expenses and support of survivors, excluding
   41  contributions in kind.
   42         Section 2. Subsections (4) and (5) of section 768.21,
   43  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   44         768.21 Damages.—All potential beneficiaries of a recovery
   45  for wrongful death, including the decedent’s estate, shall be
   46  identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the
   47  decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows:
   48         (4) Each parent of a deceased minor child or an unborn
   49  child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the
   50  date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover
   51  for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.
   52         (5) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent’s
   53  injury or death may be recovered by a survivor who has paid
   54  them. Except for claims brought under chapter 766, each parent
   55  of an unborn child may recover for medical or funeral expenses.
   56         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.