The Grieving Families Act was passed by the NY Senate today, June 6th!
When signed by the Governor, this legislation will update NY’s Wrongful Death statute in relation to the types of recoverable damages and the persons who can bring an action. The current law was enacted in 1847 and reflects an outdated belief about what is lost when someone is wrongfully killed. The bill is limited to “wrongful death” where someone was killed due to another person’s negligent or malicious actions.
The current law primarily benefits the survivors of high-wage earners living in a traditional family structure. This reflects outdated concepts (from 1847 when the law was first enacted) that don’t account for the modern family. Under existing law a grandparent raising a grandchild is deemed to have no loss if the grandchild is wrongfully killed. The death of an elderly person is often not an economic loss under the current statute because the elderly often have limited income. Similarly, babies and children have no value, as the expense of raising them far exceeds any income they produce. Valuing people’s lives based on earnings perpetuates historic inequalities suffered by people of color and women.
We believe that a person is worth more than the value of their paycheck.
Support grieving families and tell Governor Hochul to sign this bill into law. Visit HopeForNYFamilies.org today.
