What the statute provides
G.L. c. 229 §2 makes a person liable for a death caused by negligence, or by a willful, wanton or reckless act, in the amount of (1) the fair monetary value of the decedent to the people entitled to recover, including the loss of reasonably expected net income, services, protection, care, assistance, society, companionship, comfort, guidance, counsel and advice, (2) reasonable funeral and burial expenses, and (3) punitive damages of not less than $5,000 where the death was caused by malicious, willful, wanton or reckless conduct or by gross negligence. The executor or administrator brings the action.
Recovery goes to the beneficiaries in c. 229 §1 — the spouse and children of a married decedent, or the next of kin of an unmarried one. The list is exclusive. The decedent's own conscious suffering before death is a separate claim under §6 and belongs to the estate.