Kelly v. Georgia-Pacific, LLC

The question presented for our review is whether the Florida Wrongful Death Act supersedes the common law requirement that a spouse must be married to the decedent before the date of the decedent’s injury to recover damages for loss of consortium. Stated another way, did the legislative enactment, giving the estate’s representatives and survivors a remedy not found in the common law, “explicitly,” “clearly,” and “unequivocally” abrogate the common law requirements to recover consortium damages when those damages are awarded under the Wrongful Death Act. Because there can be no change in the…