Who Qualifies for Workers Compensation Death Benefits as a Dependent?

INDIVIDUALS WHO QUALIFY AS DEPENDENTS

Not everyone is entitled to death benefits. People who may be considered dependents for the purposes of workers’ compensation death benefits are defined in Labor Code. It enumerates two classifications of people who may qualify as dependents: (1) those who are good-faith members of the deceased employee’s family or household, and (2) those with specified marital, blood or adopted relationships with the decedent.

Workers Compensation Death Dependency

The law does not require that a person claiming to be a dependent fall within both classes; a person may be awarded compensation if he or she belongs to either class. So someone may be entitled to death benefits even if he or she does not have any relation by adoption, blood or marriage to the employee so long as the person is a member of the family or household of the deceased employee in good faith.

Note that even if a person qualifies to be a dependent under the Labor Code, he or she would not be automatically entitled to death benefits– unless covered by the conclusive presumption of total dependency. Those claiming dependency benefits must still prove actual dependency on the deceased employee in order to be entitled to the death benefit. These issues are discussed in the forthcoming sections. But some people who were financially dependent on a deceased employee will not be entitled to dependency benefits because they do not qualify as a dependent in the first instance. The people who may qualify as dependents are discussed in this section.

ADOPTED, BLOOD OR MARITAL RELATIVE OF THE DECEASED EMPLOYEE

Certain individuals who may qualify as a dependent by way of an adopted, blood or marital relationship to the deceased employee. They are:.

husband or wife;.
child, posthumous child, adopted child or stepchild;.
grandchild;.
father or mother;.
father-in-law or mother-in-law;.
grandfather or grandmother;.
brother or sister;.
uncle or aunt;.
brother-in-law or sister-in-law; and.
nephew or niece.

The above relationships must be proved. Legal documents such as birth certificates and marriage licenses will suffice as evidence. People listed above with the relationships to the deceased employee may be entitled to death benefits even if they were not living with the employee at the time of injury. They may reside with the employee, in their own home or anywhere else. But aside from individuals entitled to a conclusive presumption of total dependency, those listed are only entitled to death benefits if they were dependent upon the employee for their support.

A posthumous child is a dependent of the deceased employee. It has been held that a child who was not born or conceived at the time of injury was not a dependent.

Not every relative is listed as an eligible death benefit recipient. For example, cousins and great-grandparents are omitted from the list. Omitted are various relatives of the surviving spouse. Close friends and godparents who may be financially dependent on the decedent are likewise omitted from the list. The only way that omitted individuals would be eligible for death benefits would be if they were good-faith members of the family or household of the decedent at the time of injury.

Lawful Spouse

In California, the Legislature has full control of the subject of marriage and may fix the conditions under which the marital status may be created or terminated. In order to have a legal marriage, there must be a properly recorded marriage license and a ceremony performed by a person authorized to perform marriages, such as a priest, minister, rabbi, justice of peace or other authorized official. The provisions regarding the validity of marriage are established in Family Code.

Divorce

The appeals board held that a divorced spouse of the deceased employee who was living apart from the employee was not a dependent nor a member of the employee’s household, and therefore, was not entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits. A divorced spouse of a subsequently married employee does not come within the statutory definition of a dependent entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits even if he or she was dependent on the support payments made by the decedent.

GOOD-FAITH MEMBER OF FAMILY OR HOUSEHOLD

A person not having a specified marital, blood or adopted relationship to the decedent may be a dependent for the purposes of death benefits if he or she is “in good faith a member of the family or household of the employee.” The law does not require good faith on the part of the decedent but only on those claiming dependency as members of the household.

Very few cases have defined what it means to be a good-faith member of the decedent’s family or household. The California Supreme Court has instructed that “family and household” are used synonymously with “the ‘family’ to include only those of the household who are thus intimately associated, and the ‘household’ to exclude those of the family not living in the home.” All that it requires is a bona fide family or household, and the existence of dependency.

Not everyone who lives in the same household of the deceased employee is a dependent. All these individuals are examples of members of the same household, but none is a dependent.

Burden of Proof on Alleged Dependent

An alleged dependent must prove that he or she is a good-faith member of the family or household of the deceased employee. The appeals board has the responsibility of determining the “good faith” of a person claiming to be a member of the decedent’s household. The appeals board findings on whether a person is a good-faith member of the family or household will generally be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence.

Putative Spouse

A putative spouse is one who believes in good faith that he or she is a party to a valid marriage, although the marriage is invalid. A putative spouse who in good faith believes that he or she is married to the decedent is entitled to the same death benefits as a legal spouse. Without a good-faith belief, someone would not be considered a putative spouse.

When there is both a putative spouse and a legal spouse who were both dependent on the decedent, the appeals board may divide the death benefit between them. A legal spouse may be denied benefits if the decedent was no longer legally liable for support.

Children in the Household

The courts are frequently willing to find that minor children who were living with the decedent at the time of death are dependents. As stated in one case, “It is common knowledge that many homes today include minor children who are not the immediate progeny of the husband and wife. Divorces, second marriages, death of parents, desertions by parents, unfitness on the part of parents, and other factors constantly are creating situations in which minor children are given into the care and custody of couples other than their own parents. Upon the death of the breadwinner of such a family group, the problem of economic readjustment is just as great to the dependent minor children as if a parental relationship had existed between themselves and the decedent.

So even before Marvin, the courts had held that the child of a meretricious spouse could recover death benefits even if the child was not the decedent’s child, as long as the decedent supported the child as a good-faith member of the household. Such a child may be a dependent of the decedent, even though he or she has another parent who is legally liable for support.

Note that even if a person qualifies to be a dependent under the Labor Code, he or she would not be automatically entitled to death benefits– unless covered by the conclusive presumption of total dependency. Some people who were financially dependent on a deceased employee will not be entitled to dependency benefits because they do not qualify as a dependent in the first instance. Aside from individuals entitled to a conclusive presumption of total dependency, those listed are only entitled to death benefits if they were dependent upon the employee for their support.

The appeals board held that a divorced spouse of the deceased employee who was living apart from the employee was not a dependent nor a member of the employee’s household, and therefore, was not entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits. A divorced spouse of a subsequently married employee does not come within the statutory definition of a dependent entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits even if he or she was dependent on the support payments made by the decedent.