SB 29: Civil actions: decedent’s cause of action.

Existing law provides that a cause of action that survives the death of the person entitled to commence an action or proceeding passes to the decedent’s successor in interest and an action may be commenced by the decedent’s personal representative or, if none, by the decedent’s successor in interest. Existing law provides that the damages recoverable in that action or proceeding include the loss or damage that the decedent sustained or incurred before death, including any penalties or punitive or exemplary damages that the decedent would have been entitled to recover had the decedent lived. Existing law also permits damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement to be recovered in an action brought by the decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest if the action or proceeding was granted a specified preference before January 1, 2022, or was filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. Existing law requires a plaintiff who recovers damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement between specified dates to submit to the Judicial Council a copy of the judgment, consent judgment, or court-approved settlement agreement entitling the plaintiff to the damages and a cover sheet containing specified information. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to transmit to the Legislature a report detailing this information, as specified.

This bill would extend the time frame for a decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest to file an action to recover damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement to January 1, 2030. 2027. The bill would extend the requirement that a plaintiff who recovers such damages report specified information about the action to the Judicial Council to include damages recovered through January 1, 2029. July 31, 2026. The bill would authorize any party to an action to submit the required information to the Judicial Council. The bill would extend to January 1, 2029, 2027, the deadline for the Judicial Council to submit a report to the Legislature and would change the period covered by the report to January 1, 2025, through July 31, 2029. 2026.