To: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES
On December 21, 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed the ‘Grieving Families Act.’
This is the third time the Governor has rejected this piece of legislation. The bill would have, among other things allowed family members who lost loved ones seek compensation for grief and anguish.
The GFA would amend the Estates, Powers, and Trusts Law [EPTL] insofar as recovery of damages for the families of decedents is concerned.
The current wrongful death statue, passed in 1847, precludes close family members from compensation for their non-economic loss in wrongful death suits. The proponents of the change have argued that the current law, which awards compensation for pecuniary loss only, including loss of parental guidance for children, impacts most harshly on children, seniors, women and minorities. undervalued in our society.
The Grieving Families Act passed overwhelmingly in the New York State Assembly and in the New York State Senate on three occasions.
Prior Bills proposed some of the following changes to the EPTL:
- Section 1 would amend EPTL section 5-4.1 to extend the statute of limitations to commence a wrongful death action from two years to three years and six months, a significant increase that will permit many more wrongful death cases to go forward.
- Section 2 amends EPTL section 5-4.3, to families to recover more than just pecuniary/economic damages. The act would allow damages such as grief, emotional anguish, loss of support/protection, loss of companionship, and loss of consortium caused by the death of a family member.
- Section 3 amends EPTL section 5-4.4 to permit recovery by close family members which is not defined. Whether someone is a close family member is an issue for the factfinder to decide based upon the specific circumstances relating to the person’s relationship with the decedent.
- Section 4 amends EPTL section 5-4.6 “Close” family members could include non-married couples (domestic partners as defined in Section 2961 of the Public Health Law), parents, step- parents, and siblings.
In the Governor’s veto message, Hochul stated, “while well-intended, these changes would likely have resulted in higher costs to patients and consumers.” She added, “genuine concerns have been raised that the bill may lead to higher costs including insurance premiums, and may also risk the financial well-being of our health care system…”
Although the Bill did receive 2/3s approval by both Houses, (technically enough to override the veto, pursuant to Article IV, Section 7 of the NYS Constitution), the Sponsors of the legislation have stated that “there is no appetite for an effort to override the governor’s veto.”
An analysis from actuarial firm Milliman for the New York Civil Justice Institute found that if the bill was enacted, medical professional liability insurance, costs were projected to balloon by as much as 40%.