An Act To Amend the Wrongful Death Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 0866
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: FAIRCLOTH, GROSE, BARTLETI

Legislative Document 
No. 866 
H.P.655 
House of Representatives, February 23, 2007 
An Act To Amend the Wrongful Death Laws 
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative FAIRCLOTH of Bangor. 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Cosponsored by Representative: GROSE of Woolwich, Senator: BARTLETI of Cumberland. 
Printed on recYl: led paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. lS-A MRSA §2-S04, sub-§(b), as amended by PL 1999, c. 772, § 1, is 
further amended to read: 
(b). 
Every such action must be brought by and in the name of the personal 
representative of the deceased person, and the amount recovered in every such action, 
except as otherwise provided, is for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse if no 
minor children, and of the children if no surviving spouse, and one-half for the exclusive 
benefit of the surviving spouse and one-half for the exclusive benefit of the minor 
children to be divided equally among them if there are both surviving spouse and minor 
children, and to the deceased's heirs to be distributed as provided in section 2-106 if there 
is neither surviving spouse nor minor children. The jury may give such damages as it 
determines a fair and just compensation with reference to the pecuniary injuries resulting 
from the death to the persons for whose benefit the action is brought and in addition shall 
give such damages as will compensate the estate of the deceased person for reasonable 
expenses of medical, surgical and hospital care and treatment and for reasonable funeral 
expenses, and in addition may give damages not exceeding $400,000 $600,000 for the 
loss of comfort, society and companionship of the deceased, including any damages for 
emotional distress arising from the same facts as those constituting the underlying claim, 
to the persons for whose benefit the action is brought, and in addition may give punitive 
damages not exceeding $75,000, provided that the action is commenced within 2 years 
after the decedent's death. If a claim under this section is settled without an action having 
been commenced, the amount paid in settlement must be distributed as provided in this 
subsection. No settlement on behalf of minor children is valid unless approved by the 
court, as provided in Title 14, section 1605. 
The damage limits contained in this 
subsection must be adjusted by a factor equal to the percentage change in the United 
States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, United 
States City Average from January 1, 2008 to the date of calculation. If noneconomic 
damages, punitive damages or both are sought, the court shall inform the jury of the 
damage limits described in this section. 
SUMMARY 
This bill increases the cap on wrongful death noneconomic damages from $400,000 
to $600,000 and requires adjustments in the future, tied to the Consumer Price Index. 
This bill also requires the court to inform the jury about the statutory caps on both 
noneconomic and punitive damages if either or both are sought in a wrongful death 
action. 
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