HB195--BENTLEY'SLAW
SPONSOR:Henderson
Thisbillestablishes"Bentley'sLaw",whichrequiresapersonconvictedofanoffenseofdriving
whileintoxicatedwherethedeathofaparentorparentsresultstopaychildmaintenancetothe
child'sorchildren'ssurvivingparentorlegalguardianuntilthechildturns18or,ifthechildis18
andenrollsincollege,untilcompletionofadegreeoruntilthechildreachestheageof21,
whicheveroccursfirst.Toremaineligibleforcontinuedmaintenance,thechildorchildrenmust
submittothecourtatthebeginningofeachsemesteradocumentprovidedbytheinstitutionof
vocationalorhighereducationthatincludesthecoursesinwhichthechildorchildrenareenrolled,
alongwithotherinformationspecifiedinthebill.Ifthechildorchildrenfailtoproducethe
requireddocuments,maintenancemayterminateandwillnotbeeligibleforreinstatement.
Thebillspecifieshowtheamountofmaintenancetobepaidisdeterminedandhowthe
maintenanceistobepaid.Ifthesurvivingparentortheguardianbringsacivilactionagainstthe
personpriortoanymaintenancebeingorderedandtheparentorguardianreceivesajudgmentin
hisorherfavor,nomaintenancewillbeordered.Alternatively,ifthecourtordersmaintenanceto
bepaidandtheparentorguardianlaterbringsacivilactionandobtainsajudgmentinhisorher
favor,theamountawardedwillbeoffsetbytheamountofmaintenanceordered.
ThisbillissimilartoHB1954(2022).