If you DUI and kill someone in Tennessee, and someone has a child or under 18, you may end up paying child support.
If Tennessee Governor Bill Lee Sign the House Act of 1834 into law. It has been passed by the House and State Senate.
The bill states: “The sentencing court is required, in convictions of vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular homicide, to order the defendant to pay compensation in the form of child support to each victim if the deceased was the parent of a minor child. children until each child turns 18 and graduates from high school.
The state will use information such as the child’s habitual standard of living, the financial needs and resources of the child or child and any parent or guardian who survived the accident.
Additionally, if the driver is convicted, the surviving parent or guardian can still file a civil lawsuit or obtain a sentence against the offender. Any child support awarded in this case will supersede any existing child support arrangements.
Convicted offenders will have to start paying immediately, or up to a year after their release if they are unable to pay because they are in jail or jail. If not paid in full by the time the child turns 18, it will continue to be paid until completed.
Cecilia Williams is law enforcement after her son, daughter-in-law and grandson were killed by a drunk driver in April 2021.
“They’ll always remember, that’s what I did to this family, you know, and it’s going to get them into it. I can’t do that anymore. You know, I support kids who don’t belong to me,” she told 9 ABC News.
Originally, the bill was named after Cecilia’s eldest grandson, but added the names of two other children who lost their parents to drunk driving, changing it to “Ethan, Haley and Bentley’s Law” .
Another reason not to drive after being knocked down.
[Image: Paul Biryukov/Shutterstock.com]
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