MARVIN MANDEL, Governor                                 173

to be stated in statutory form, the
definition should be formulated by the
Legislature.

The staff is aware that the proposed draft
perpetuates what appears to be a defect in
the existing statute. Sec. 4(b) of Art. 67
applies only to the case of the death of a
spouse or minor child. The death of a
parent, especially a widow, widower, or
divorced parent, who could not be called a
spouse, is not in terms covered by the
subsection, although one of the elements of
damage is stated to be "parental care"; and
the statute also refers to counsel,
training, guidance, etc., which are more
applicable to the death of a parent than to
anything else.

However the Commission is cognizant of the
fact that this law was adopted in its
present form by Ch. 352, Acts of 1969, and
after a previous effort to broaden the
language was made unsuccessfully in 1968.
The present language is of recent vintage
and apparently the result of legislative
compromise. Thus, despite any logical
defects it may contain, the Commission
believes that change is a matter for the
legislature.

Although under this subtitle it may appear
that a plaintiff has 3 years from the
accrual of his cause of action within which
to bring suit, it should be noted that if
the defendant - tort feasor dies during
this period the plaintiff is required to
present notice of his claim to the
defendants personal representative within
six months from the date of the first
published notice to creditors. Art. 93,
§8-103 (a). Sec. 8-103 does not apply if
the action has been commenced prior to the
defendant's death, and the decedent had
been duly served with process before his
death. See §8-103 (c).

GENERAL REVISOR'S NOTE:

The Commission to Revise the Annotated Code in
compiling Title 3 of the Courts and Judicial