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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | LCO No. 5882 1 of 2 |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7142 |
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| 6 | 6 | | January Session, 2025 |
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| 7 | 7 | | LCO No. 5882 |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY |
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| 11 | 11 | | |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | Introduced by: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (JUD) |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | |
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| 17 | 17 | | |
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| 18 | 18 | | |
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| 19 | 19 | | AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CAUSE OF ACTION FOR TORTIOUS |
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| 20 | 20 | | INTERFERENCE WITH THE RIGHT OF AN INHERITANCE. |
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| 21 | 21 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General |
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| 22 | 22 | | Assembly convened: |
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| 23 | 23 | | |
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| 24 | 24 | | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) An action for tortious 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | interference with the right of an inheritance may be brought when (1) a 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | person has an expectation of receiving an inheritance, (2) another person 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | has knowledge of the expected inheritance, (3) such other person 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | engages in conduct that demonstrates an intent to interfere with the 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | expected inheritance, (4) such other person's conduct was tortious 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | causing the expected inheritance to fail, and (5) the person bringing the 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | action suffered actual economic loss as a result of such other person's 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | tortious conduct. 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (b) Any person aggrieved by acts constituting tortious interference 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | with the right of an inheritance may bring an action in the Superior 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | Court to recover damages, together with costs and a reasonable 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | attorney's fee. No such action shall be brought under this section but 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | within three years from the date of the act complained of. 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | Raised Bill No. 7142 |
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| 39 | 39 | | |
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| 40 | 40 | | |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | LCO No. 5882 2 of 2 |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following |
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| 45 | 45 | | sections: |
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| 46 | 46 | | |
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| 47 | 47 | | Section 1 October 1, 2025 New section |
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| 48 | 48 | | |
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| 49 | 49 | | Statement of Purpose: |
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| 50 | 50 | | To establish a statutory cause of action for tortious interference with the |
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| 51 | 51 | | right of an inheritance. |
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| 52 | 52 | | |
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| 53 | 53 | | [Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except |
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| 54 | 54 | | that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not |
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| 55 | 55 | | underlined.] |
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| 56 | 56 | | |
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