Tort Liability and Reform

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Wrongful Death Law Changes

This bill changes Tennessee's wrongful death laws by extending the time period for proving abandonment and changing how an unborn child is defined.

What This Bill Does

• Extends the time from two years to three years that must pass before a surviving spouse can be presumed abandoned if they have not provided support or lived with their deceased partner.
• Adds that process in wrongful death cases can now also be served by substituted service, meaning someone else can deliver legal papers on behalf of the court.
• Changes how an unborn child is defined for wrongful death actions to start from fertilization until birth.

Who It Names or Affects

• Surviving spouses who might lose their right to collect proceeds in wrongful death cases if they are presumed abandoned after three years.
• Children or next of kin involved in wrongful death lawsuits against a surviving spouse.
• Legal professionals handling wrongful death cases involving unborn children.

Terms To Know

Wrongful Death

A legal claim when someone dies due to another person's negligence, and their family can sue for damages.

Substituted Service

When a court allows someone else to deliver legal papers instead of the plaintiff or defendant doing it themselves.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how exactly substituted service will be carried out in wrongful death cases.
• It is unclear if and when this law might change again after July 1, 2026.

Official Summary Text

Present law requires
the right to institute and the right to collect any proceeds from a wrongful death action granted to a surviving spouse
to
be waived if the children or next of kin establish
that
the surviving spouse has abandoned the deceased spouse or otherwise willfully withdrawn for a period of two years.
"Abandonment," as used in such provision, means t
he husband or wife has abandoned the spouse or turned the spouse out of doors for no just cause, and has refused or neglected to provide for the s
pouse while having the ability to so provide
.
If the
two-year
period has passed since the time of abandonment or willful withdrawal, then there is a rebuttable presumption that the surviving spouse abandoned the deceased spouse.

This bill increases the amount of time that must pass from two years to, instead, three years.

Present law requires, i
n an action
described above
, the child or next of kin
to
serve the surviving spouse with process as provided in the rules of civil procedure or by constructive service as may otherwise be provided by law.
This bill adds that process may also be served by
substituted
service.

"PERSON" DEFINED

As used in
the provisions above
,
present law defines "
person
" to
include an unborn child at any stage of gestation in utero.
This bill removes this definition and provides, instead, that a "person"
includes an unborn child
, which is
an individual organism of the species homo sapiens, beginning at fertilization, until the point of being born alive as defined in
federal law. Federal law provides that "
born alive
,"
with respect to a member of the species homo sapiens, means the complete expulsion or extract
ion from his or her mother, at any stage of development, who after such expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been
cut, and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1743
By Bowling

HOUSE BILL 1528
By Bulso
HB1528
010774
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 20
and Section 63-6-1102, relative to wrongful death.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 20-5-106, is amended by deleting
subsections (c) and (d) and substituting:
(c)
(1) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, the right to institute and
the right to collect any proceeds from a wrongful death action granted by this
section to a surviving spouse shall be waived, if the children or next of kin
establish the surviving spouse has abandoned the deceased spouse as
described in § 36-4-101(a)(13) or otherwise willfully withdrawn for a period of
three (3) years.
(2) If the period of three (3) years has passed since the time of
abandonment or willful withdrawal, then there is created a rebuttable
presumption that the surviving spouse abandoned the deceased spouse for
purposes of this section.
(3) In an action under this section, the child or next of kin shall serve the
surviving spouse with process as provided in the rules of civil procedure or by
substituted, constructive, or other service as may otherwise be provided by law.
(d) As used in this section, the word "person" includes an unborn child as
defined in § 63-6-1102.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.