---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 5581"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5581 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure", "Courts", "Criminal Procedure", "Death", "Mental Health"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Noret"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-02-12"
last_action: "2021-07-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/be0d03ea-f468-475f-9208-9561bfd84ae9"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "9dbdaa0c1520c63570e2d61947e06ec3332cbfd92ed5f40b0073505fb1671314"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5581 (2021) — AN ACT RELATING TO COURTS AND CIVIL PROCEDURE - PROCEDURE IN PARTICULAR ACTIONS - DEATH BY WRONGFUL ACT (Allows recovery of damages for the emotional distress, grief, and loss of enjoyment of life as a result of the wrongful death of a spouse, a parent or a son or daughter.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5581 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText21/HouseText21/H5581A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Noret — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-12** 02/12/2021 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-03-05** 03/05/2021 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/10/2021)
- **2021-03-10** 03/10/2021 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2021-06-16** 06/16/2021 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2021)
- **2021-06-16** 06/16/2021 Proposed Substitute
- **2021-06-18** 06/18/2021 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-21** 06/21/2021 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2021)
- **2021-06-23** 06/23/2021 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2021-06-28** 06/28/2021 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (06/30/2021)
- **2021-06-30** 06/30/2021 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2021-07-08** 07/08/2021 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-07-12** 07/12/2021 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/be0d03ea-f468-475f-9208-9561bfd84ae9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).