NY S08624

Allows courts to award punitive damages against the estate of a deceased person in civil cases involving sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, or sex trafficking of minors or adults

Overrides existing Estates, Powers and Trusts Law provisions that would otherwise prevent punitive damage awards against estates

Lowers the standard of proof for punitive damages in these cases to "preponderance of the evidence" rather than the typically higher standard

Permits punitive damages to be collected from estates of individuals who committed, directed, enabled, or facilitated the sexual misconduct

Applies immediately upon enactment to both pending cases and new actions filed after the effective date