89R11963 AMF-F
By: Campbell S.B. No. 2027
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the liability of a funeral service provider for mental
anguish damages.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 77A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 77A. FUNERAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Sec. 77A.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Body or remains" means a human corpse or the body
parts of a human corpse.
(2) "Claimant" means a person described by Section
77A.002(a) who brings an action described by that section.
(3) "Funeral service" means a service performed by a
funeral service provider related to the care, preparation, and
disposition of a body or remains, including:
(A) retrieving, loading, and transporting the
body or remains;
(B) storing, embalming, dressing, casketing,
interring, or cremating the body or remains;
(C) arranging, supervising, and conducting a
funeral ceremony; and
(D) arranging, supervising, and implementing the
final disposition of the body or remains.
(4) "Funeral service provider" means a person engaged
in the business of providing funeral services. The term includes an
employee or contractor of the person engaged in the business of
providing funeral services, including an employee or contractor
used in the provision of a funeral service and who is:
(A) an embalmer;
(B) a crematory operator;
(C) a funeral director;
(D) a provisional license holder; or
(E) a transporter.
Sec. 77A.002. APPLICABILITY; EXCLUSIVE REMEDY. (a) This
chapter applies only to an action:
(1) brought by a person who has a special relationship
with a funeral service provider due to a claimant's right of
sepulcher, a right to possess a body or remains, a right to control
the disposition of a body or remains under Section 711.002(a),
Health and Safety Code, or another related right; and
(2) in which the person seeks to recover mental
anguish damages from a funeral service provider based on that
special relationship.
(b) A claimant may not pursue an action governed by this
chapter under any other law to obtain mental anguish damages from a
funeral service provider.
Sec. 77A.003. LIMITED LIABILITY FOR MENTAL ANGUISH DAMAGES.
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a funeral service
provider is not liable to a claimant for mental anguish damages
unless the claimant proves:
(1) the funeral service provider mishandled a body or
remains;
(2) if the funeral service provider had acted in a
manner consistent with the common practice of reasonably prudent
funeral service providers, the mishandling of the body or remains
would not have occurred;
(3) as a result of the mishandling of the body or
remains and the close personal relationship between the claimant
and the decedent, the claimant experienced grievous or debilitating
angst, distress, torment, emotional suffering, or turmoil that
caused a substantial disruption in the claimant's daily routine;
and
(4) a reasonable person in the position of the funeral
service provider would have foreseen that the mishandling of the
body or remains would cause significant emotional harm to the
claimant.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), mental anguish
damages that may be recovered from a funeral service provider by a
claimant in an action governed by this chapter are limited to the
lesser of:
(1) three times the amount paid to the funeral service
provider for funeral services for the decedent; or
(2) $50,000.
(c) A claimant may not recover mental anguish damages from a
funeral service provider in an action governed by this chapter if
the claimant seeks relief from the funeral service provider under
Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code.
Sec. 77A.004. JURY INSTRUCTIONS. In a trial to a jury for
an action governed by this chapter, the court shall provide the jury
a definition for mental anguish that conforms to Section
77A.003(a)(3) and instruct the jury regarding the requirements of
this chapter.
Sec. 77A.005. CONSTRUCTION OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
not:
(1) create a cause of action in favor of, or confer
standing to bring an action against a funeral service provider on,
any person; or
(2) limit a claimant's recovery of other forms of
economic or exemplary damages or apply to other actions, including
actions to recover damages for death or physical injury caused to
the claimant by negligence of a funeral service provider.
SECTION 2. Chapter 77A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
as added by this Act, is an exercise of authority under Section
66(c), Article III, Texas Constitution, and takes effect only if
this Act receives a vote of three-fifths of all the members elected
to each house, as provided by Subsection (e) of that section.
SECTION 3. Chapter 77A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code,
as added by this Act, applies only to an action commenced on or
after the effective date of this Act. An action commenced before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to
the action immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.