Delaware Senate Bill 81

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Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-1)
Status: Passed on July 17 2023 - 100% progression
Action: 2023-07-17 - Signed by Governor
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

This statutory addition to Delawares Wrongful Death Act will permit the spouse, parents, children, and siblings of a deceased person to recover punitive damages when the actions resulting in the death of another person were maliciously intended or the result of willful or wanton misconduct by the at fault party. Punitive damages are intended to deter the at fault party from future similar conduct and to punish the at fault party for reckless conduct. Presently, an estate can recover punitive damages under a survival action pursuant to 10 Del C. § 3701. A survival action involves the death of an individual as the result of the at fault party where that individual suffers for a period of time before dying. Whereas, a wrongful death action involves the instantaneous death of an individual as the result of the at fault party. This led to cases where the issue of whether a defendant faced punitive damages depended not on the defendant's own actions, but on whether the deceased had suffered long enough for a survival action. This Act also clarifies the definitions of "child" and "parent."

An Act To Amend Title 10 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Wrongful Death Actions.

Sen. Bryan Townsend [D]	Rep. Krista Griffith [D]	Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker [D]	Rep. Cyndie Romer [D]
Sen. Stephanie Hansen [D]	Sen. Kyra Hoffner [D]	Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos [D]	Sen. Marie Pinkney [D]
Sen. Nicole Poore [D]	Sen. David Sokola [D]	Sen. Laura Sturgeon [D]	Sen. Jack Walsh [D]
Rep. Paul Baumbach [D]	Rep. Ruth Briggs King [R]	Rep. William Bush [D]	Rep. Kendra Johnson [D]
Rep. Larry Lambert [D]	Rep. Edward Osienski [D]

2023-06-30 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 41 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2023-05-16 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 21 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2023-07-17		Signed by Governor
2023-06-30		Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
2023-06-14		Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 3 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits
2023-05-17		Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
2023-05-16		Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
2023-05-03		Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 7 On Its Merits
2023-04-06		Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=130197
Text	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=130197&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=SB81
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#54431
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#55046