Who Supports a Child After a Drunk Driver Kills a Parent? NJ Bill Would Make the Driver Pay

A Senate committee voted 11-0 to advance a measure requiring restitution for children who lose a parent or guardian, with payments paused during incarceration.

TRENTON, NJ — Drunk drivers convicted of reckless vehicular homicide would have to help financially support children whose parents or guardians they killed under a bill advanced by the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee on October 15.

The committee voted unanimously to release an amended version of Senate Bill 478, which would require restitution reflecting the financial contributions a child lost when a parent or guardian died. The measure remains a proposal, not law.

Payments would go to the deceased victim’s spouse, nearest surviving relative or guardian with legal custody of the child. A sentencing judge would determine how much the defendant owes and how long payments must continue.

The restitution would account for “the loss of financial contributions from the deceased parent or guardian,” the committee wrote in its statement on the drunk driving measure.

Prison time would pause payments

The amended bill would not require defendants to make payments while incarcerated.

Lawmakers removed language that would have allowed unpaid obligations to accumulate during incarceration and required payments to begin again within a year of release. The revised statement says “no restitution payments would be required during the period of incarceration.”

Outside incarceration, defendants who default or still owe money when the court-ordered payment period ends would face consequences available under existing law. Those can include driver’s license suspension, imprisonment, a labor assistance program or enforced community service.

Judges would decide how long support lasts

The committee also stripped out fixed payment deadlines tied to a child’s age or graduation.

An earlier version would have required payments until the child turned 18 or graduated high school, or until 21 for a child with a disability. It also called for at least five years of support. The amended version leaves the duration to the sentencing court and refers judges to existing law for factors governing the amount.

If a surviving parent or guardian later wins a civil judgment against the defendant, that award would be offset by restitution ordered under the bill to prevent double compensation for the same loss.