For years, advocates, legislators, and families across New York have pushed to modernize a wrongful death law that has not been updated since 1847. The proposed vehicle for that change was the Grieving Families Act, a bill passed four times by the New York Legislature with broad bipartisan support. However, the Act was vetoed for the fourth consecutive time by Governor Hochul last December 2025, leaving New York’s wrongful death law unchanged. A fifth version has yet to be sent to the Governor’s office, but there is still time for the legislature to review the Act and send in its recommendations later in 2026.
This article explains what the Grieving Families Act would have done, why its failure matters to New York families, and what legal options remain available to those who have lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence. Under the current law, important legal rights still exist, and are important to understand.
A Law Written in 1847
New York’s Wrongful Death Statute has not been meaningfully updated since it was enacted in 1847. Under the current law, compensation is largely limited to economic losses such as lost income or financial support. There is no avenue to recover for grief, emotional suffering, or loss of companionship — no matter how devastating the circumstances of the loss.
Many other states allow surviving family members to recover for these very real, very human harms. New York does not.
Who Can File and Who Gets Left Out
Under the current statute, only the legal representative of the deceased’s estate may bring a claim on behalf of those who would inherit under New York’s intestacy laws. Intestacy laws are the rules that determine who inherits a person’s assets when they die without a will, generally prioritizing spouses, children, and other close blood relatives. This means people the deceased may have considered to be family, such as a longtime partner, a foster child, or a stepparent, may have no legal standing to pursue a claim.
What the Grieving Families Act Would Have Changed
The Grieving Families Act would have made two significant changes. First, it would have expanded recoverable damages to include grief, emotional suffering, and loss of companionship. Second, it would have expanded who can file to include spouses and domestic partners, stepchildren and foster children, stepparents, grandparents, and others who stood in a parental role to the deceased.
The Act would also have extended the statute of limitations from two to three years from the date of death and applied retroactively to deaths occurring on or after January 1, 2022.
Where Things Stand Now
Governor Hochul vetoed the Act in December 2025, the fourth consecutive veto. While the Legislature had sufficient votes to override the veto, it was no longer in session when the veto occurred. Any future consideration of the Act will require reintroduction in a new legislative session, likely later this year, in 2026.
Two Separate Claims Arising From a Wrongful Death
When someone dies due to the negligence of someone else, New York law recognizes two distinct claims, and it is important to understand both.
The Wrongful Death Claim
This is the claim most people think of when they hear “wrongful death.” New York’s current law limits recovery to pecuniary (economic) losses such as lost income, lost financial support, and the economic value of services the deceased provided to the family. This is the claim the Grieving Families Act would have expanded.
The Conscious Pain and Suffering Claim
Less well known but equally important is a separate claim for the conscious pain and suffering the deceased experienced before death. This claim addresses what the deceased experienced between the moment of injury and the moment of death. If they survived for any period of time, even briefly, their estate may have a claim for the physical pain, fear, and emotional distress they endured during that interval. This claim belongs to the estate itself and is not subject to the same economic limitations as the wrongful death claim.
This means that even in cases where the deceased had little or no income, such as a child, a retiree, or a stay-at-home caregiver, there may still be a significant and viable legal claim based on what your loved one experienced before they died.
What This Means for Families
The failure to pass the Grieving Families Act has real consequences for New York families who lose a loved one due to negligence. Because the current law focuses almost entirely on economic loss, it often produces outcomes that feel deeply at odds with the reality of a family’s grief.
Consider the loss of a child. Under New York’s current law, a family who loses a child due to someone else’s negligence may recover little or nothing in a wrongful death claim. A child has no income, no dependents, and no financial track record. The law has no mechanism to account for the joy that child brought to a family, the milestones that will never be celebrated, or the lifetime of love and companionship that was taken away. In the eyes of the current statute, that loss is difficult to translate into dollars, and therefore difficult to compensate.
The same is true for stay-at-home parents, retirees, and caregivers whose contributions to their families, while immeasurable in human terms, are difficult to compensate for under the existing law. Also, those who fall outside the law’s narrow definition of eligible claimants have no recourse, regardless of how close they were to the deceased.
The Grieving Families Act would have asked juries to consider the full human impact of a wrongful death, including what that person meant to the people who loved them.
Don’t Assume You Have No Case
The failure of the Grieving Families Act does not mean that families have no legal options. Even where the wrongful death claim is limited by the current law, a conscious pain and suffering claim may provide a meaningful avenue for recovery. If you have lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, contact an experienced attorney at Lacy Katzen LLP for a free consultation. Time limitations apply to both types of claims, so it’s important to act promptly.
If You Have Lost a Loved One Due to Negligence
At Lacy Katzen LLP, our attorneys have helped negligence victims and their families for over 75 years. We can explain your rights under the law, evaluate your potential claim, and pursue every avenue of compensation available, while continuing to monitor any legislative developments that may affect your case.
