FL
Florida House Bill H1517

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1517 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to civil liability for the wrongful 2
1616 death of an unborn child; reordering and amending s. 3
1717 768.18, F.S.; revising the definition of the term 4
1818 "survivors" to include the parents of an unborn child; 5
1919 providing a definition for the term "unborn child"; 6
2020 amending s. 768.19, F.S.; prohibiting a right of 7
2121 action against the mother for the wrongful death of an 8
2222 unborn child or against a medical provider fo r lawful 9
2323 medical care provided in certain circumstances; 10
2424 amending s. 768.21, F.S.; authorizing parents of an 11
25-unborn child to recover certain damages; prohibiting 12
26-the recovery of certain damages if the decedent is an 13
27-unborn child; conforming a cross -reference; providing 14
28-an effective date. 15
25+unborn child to recover certain damages; conforming a 12
26+cross-reference; providing an effective date. 13
27+ 14
28+Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the St ate of Florida: 15
2929 16
30-Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
31- 18
32- Section 1. Section 768.18, Florida Statutes, is reordered 19
33-and amended to read: 20
34- 768.18 Definitions. —As used in ss. 768.16 -768.26: 21
35- (1)(2) "Minor children" means children under 25 years of 22
36-age, notwithstanding the age of majority. 23
37- (2)(5) "Net accumulations" means the part of the 24
38-decedent's expected net business or salary income, including 25
30+ Section 1. Section 768.18, Florida Statutes, is reordered 17
31+and amended to read: 18
32+ 768.18 Definitions. —As used in ss. 768.16 -768.26: 19
33+ (1)(2) "Minor children" means children under 25 years of 20
34+age, notwithstanding the age of majority. 21
35+ (2)(5) "Net accumulations" means the part of the 22
36+decedent's expected net business or salary income, including 23
37+pension benefits, that the decedent probably would have retained 24
38+as savings and left as part of her or his estate if the decedent 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51-pension benefits, that the decedent probably would have retained 26
52-as savings and left as part of her or his estate if the decedent 27
53-had lived her or his normal life expectancy. "Net business or 28
54-salary income" is the part of the decedent's probable gross 29
55-income after taxes, excluding income from investments continuing 30
56-beyond death, that remains after deducting the decedent's 31
57-personal expenses and support of survivors, excluding 32
58-contributions in kind. 33
59- (3)(4) "Services" means tasks, usually of a household 34
60-nature, regularly performed by the decedent that will be a 35
61-necessary expense to the survivors of the decedent. These 36
62-services may vary according to the identity of the decedent and 37
63-survivor and shall be determined under the particular facts of 38
64-each case. 39
65- (4)(3) "Support" includes contributions in kind as well as 40
66-money. 41
67- (5)(1) "Survivors" means the decedent's spouse, children, 42
68-parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent 43
69-for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive 44
70-brothers and sisters. It includes the child born out of wedlock 45
71-of a mother, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father 46
72-unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the 47
73-child's support. It also includes the parents of an unborn 48
74-child. 49
75- (6) "Unborn child" means a member of the species Homo 50
51+had lived her or his normal life expectancy. "Net business or 26
52+salary income" is the part of the decedent's probable gross 27
53+income after taxes, excluding income from investments continuing 28
54+beyond death, that remains after deducting the decedent's 29
55+personal expenses and suppor t of survivors, excluding 30
56+contributions in kind. 31
57+ (3)(4) "Services" means tasks, usually of a household 32
58+nature, regularly performed by the decedent that will be a 33
59+necessary expense to the survivors of the decedent. These 34
60+services may vary according to the identity of the decedent and 35
61+survivor and shall be determined under the particular facts of 36
62+each case. 37
63+ (4)(3) "Support" includes contributions in kind as well as 38
64+money. 39
65+ (5)(1) "Survivors" means the decedent's spouse, children, 40
66+parents, and, when partl y or wholly dependent on the decedent 41
67+for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive 42
68+brothers and sisters. It includes the child born out of wedlock 43
69+of a mother, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father 44
70+unless the father has recognize d a responsibility for the 45
71+child's support. It also includes the parents of an unborn 46
72+child. 47
73+ (6) "Unborn child" means a member of the species Homo 48
74+sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the 49
75+womb. 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88-sapiens, at any stage of de velopment, who is carried in the 51
89-womb. 52
90- Section 2. Section 768.19, Florida Statutes, is amended to 53
91-read: 54
92- 768.19 Right of action. — 55
93- (1) When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful 56
94-act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of 57
95-any person, including those occurring on navigable waters, and 58
96-the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an 59
97-action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person 60
98-or watercraft that would have been liable in damages if death 61
99-had not ensued shall be liable for damages as specified in this 62
100-act notwithstanding the death of the person injured, although 63
101-death was caused under circumstances constituting a felony. 64
102- (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, a 65
103-wrongful death action for the death of an unborn child may not 66
104-be brought against the mother of the unborn child or against a 67
105-medical provider for lawful medical care provided in compliance 68
106-with the applicable standard of care, including, but not limited 69
107-to, care related to assisted reproductive technologies as 70
108-defined in s. 742.13, provided with the consent of the mother. 71
109- Section 3. Subsection (4) and paragraph (a) of subsection 72
110-(6) of section 768.21, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 73
111- 768.21 Damages.—All potential beneficiaries of a recovery 74
112-for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate, shall be 75
88+ Section 2. Section 768.19, Florida St atutes, is amended to 51
89+read: 52
90+ 768.19 Right of action. — 53
91+ (1) When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful 54
92+act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of 55
93+any person, including those occurring on navigable waters, and 56
94+the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an 57
95+action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person 58
96+or watercraft that would have been liable in damages if death 59
97+had not ensued shall be liable for damages as specified in this 60
98+act notwithstanding the death of the person injured, although 61
99+death was caused under circumstances constituting a felony. 62
100+ (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, a 63
101+wrongful death action for the death of an unborn child may not 64
102+be brought against the mother of the unborn child or against a 65
103+medical provider for lawful medical care provided in compliance 66
104+with the applicable standard of care, including, but not limited 67
105+to, care related to assisted reproductive technologies as 68
106+defined in s. 742.13, provided with the consent of the mother. 69
107+ Section 3. Subsection (4) and paragraph (a) of subsection 70
108+(6) of section 768.21, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 71
109+ 768.21 Damages.—All potential beneficiaries of a recovery 72
110+for wrongful death, including the decedent's estate, shall be 73
111+identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the 74
112+decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows: 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125-identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the 76
126-decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows: 77
127- (4) Each parent of a deceased minor child or an unborn 78
128-child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the 79
129-date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover 80
130-for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors. 81
131- (6) The decedent's personal representative may recover for 82
132-the decedent's estate the following: 83
133- (a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of 84
134-injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors 85
135-excluding contributions in kind, with interest. Loss of the 86
136-prospective net accumulations of an estate, which might 87
137-reasonably have been expected but for the wrongful death, 88
138-reduced to present money value, may also be recovered: 89
139- 1. If the decedent's survivors include a surviving spouse 90
140-or lineal descendants; or 91
141- 2. If the decedent is not a minor child or an unborn child 92
142-as those terms are defined in s. 768.18 s. 768.18(2), there are 93
143-no lost support and services recoverable under subsection (1), 94
144-and there is a surviving parent. 95
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146-Evidence of remarriage of the decedent's spouse is admissible. 97
147- Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 98
125+ (4) Each parent of a deceased minor child or an unborn 76
126+child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the 77
127+date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover 78
128+for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors. 79
129+ (6) The decedent's personal representative may recover for 80
130+the decedent's estate the following: 81
131+ (a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of 82
132+injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors 83
133+excluding contributions in kind, with interest. Loss of the 84
134+prospective net accumulations of an estate, which might 85
135+reasonably have been expected but for the wrongful death, 86
136+reduced to present money value, may also be recovered: 87
137+ 1. If the decedent's survivors include a surviving spouse 88
138+or lineal descendants; or 89
139+ 2. If the decedent is not a minor child as defined in s. 90
140+768.18 s. 768.18(2), there are no lost support and services 91
141+recoverable under subsection (1), and there is a surviving 92
142+parent. 93
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144+Evidence of remarriage of the decedent's spouse is admissible. 95
145+ Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 96