Existing law provides that a cause of action that survives the death of the person entitled to commence an action or proceeding passes to the decedent’s successor in interest and an action may be commenced by the decedent’s personal representative or, if none, by the decedent’s successor in interest. Existing law limits the damages recoverable in that action or proceeding to the loss or damage that the decedent sustained or incurred before death, including any penalties or punitive or exemplary damages that the decedent would have been entitled to recover had the decedent lived. Existing law prohibits the recovery of damages for the decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement in that action or proceeding.
This bill would permit damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement to be recovered in an action brought by the decedent’s
personal representative or successor in interest. interest if the cause of action accrued before January 1, 2026.