Senate Bill No. 468

(By Senators Snyder and Bailey)

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[Introduced February 11, 2000; referred to the Committee
.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section six, article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to actions for wrongful death; personal representatives to distribute damages; to whom damages distributed; effective date of act; and cases excepted from immediate effect of act.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six, article seven, chapter fifty-five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. ACTIONS FOR INJURIES.
§55-7-6. By whom action for wrongful death to be brought; amount and distribution of damages; period of limitation.

(a) Every such action shall be brought by and in the name of the personal representative of such deceased person who has been duly appointed in this state, or in any other state, territory or district of the United States, or in any foreign country, and the amount recovered in every such action shall be recovered by said personal representative and be distributed in accordance herewith. If the personal representative was duly appointed in another state, territory or district of the United States, or in any foreign country, such personal representative shall, at the time of filing of the complaint, post bond with a corporate surety thereon authorized to do business in this state, in the sum of one hundred dollars, conditioned that such personal representative shall pay all costs adjudged against him or her and that he or she shall comply with the provisions of this section. The circuit court may increase or decrease the amount of said bond, for good cause.
(b) In every such action for wrongful death, the jury, or in a case tried without a jury, the court, may award such damages as to it may seem fair and just and, may direct in what proportions the damages shall be distributed to the surviving spouse and children, including adopted children and stepchildren, brothers, sisters, parents and any persons who were financially dependent upon the decedent at the time of his or her death or would otherwise be equitably entitled to share in such distribution after making provision for those expenditures, if any, specified in subdivision (2), subsection (c) of this section. If there are no such survivors, then the damages shall be distributed in accordance with the decedent's will or, if there is no will, in accordance with the laws of descent and distribution as set forth in chapter forty-two of this code. If the jury renders only a general verdict on damages and does not provide for the distribution thereof, the court shall distribute the damages in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. and the personal representative authorized by subsection (a) shall distribute the damages in accordance with the decedent's will or, if there is no will, in accordance with the laws of descent and distribution, as set forth in chapter forty-two of this code.
(c) (1) The verdict of the jury shall include, but may not be limited to, damages for the following: (A) Sorrow, mental anguish, and solace which may include society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices and advice of the decedent; (B) compensation for reasonably expected loss of: (i) Income of the decedent; and (ii) services, protection, care and assistance provided by the decedent; (C) expenses for the care, treatment and hospitalization of the decedent incident to the injury resulting in death; and (D) reasonable funeral expenses.
(2) In its verdict the jury shall set forth separately the amount of damages, if any, awarded by it for reasonable funeral, hospital, medical and said other expenses incurred as a result of the wrongful act, neglect or default of the defendant or defendants which resulted in death, and any such amount recovered for such expenses shall be so expended by the personal representative.
(d) Every such action shall be commenced within two years after the death of such deceased person, subject to the provisions of section eighteen, article two, chapter fifty-five. The provisions of this section shall not apply to actions brought for the death of any person occurring prior to the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight.
(e) Amendments made to the provisions of this section during the regular session of the Legislature in the year two thousand shall apply to all actions pending on the effective date of the act of the Legislature enacting the amendments, except those actions where: (1) There has been a final decree entered under the provisions of this section; or (2) the taking of evidence has been completed and the case has been submitted for decision under the provisions of this section.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove from the court the latitude of distributing the damages recovered in a wrongful death action and direct the personal representative to make the distribution in accordance with the decedent's will or, if no will, in accordance with the laws of decent and distribution.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.