A reworked Grieving Families Act, a major New York bill working its way through the legislative session, four months after Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a prior version, intends to reform and modernize the state’s 176-year-old wrongful death statute by allowing extended family the ability to file claims.

However, a retroactivity component allowing for any cause of action accruing on or after July 1, 2018, remains a deep concern for some legal observers, as the bill is slated for the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s May 16 agenda.