House Bill hb0795e1

                                    CS/HB 795, First Engrossed/ntc



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to wrongful death; amending s.

  3         768.21, F.S.; specifying conditions for the

  4         determination of whether there is a surviving

  5         spouse under certain circumstances; providing

  6         an effective date.

  7

  8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  9

10         Section 1.  Subsection (3) of section 768.21, Florida

11  Statutes, is amended to read:

12         768.21  Damages.--All potential beneficiaries of a

13  recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate,

14  shall be identified in the complaint, and their relationships

15  to the decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as

16  follows:

17         (3)  Minor children of the decedent, and all children

18  of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may also

19  recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and

20  guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of

21  injury. For the purposes of this subsection, if both spouses

22  die within 30 days of one another as a result of the same

23  wrongful act or series of acts arising out of the same

24  incident, each spouse is considered to have been predeceased

25  by the other.

26         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

27  law and shall apply to any action accruing on or after such

28  date.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.