Workers' Compensation Information
Workers' Compensation Information
New York Workers' Compensation Death Benefits
All too often, serious workplace injuries result in death or occupational diseases eventually kill their victims. New York workers' compensation laws provide an economic safety net in the form of death benefits to certain surviving loved ones and dependents of those who suffer work-related deaths.
If your spouse, family member, relative, loved one or someone who financially supported you passed away because of a work-related injury or illness, you should contact an experienced workers' compensation attorney like one from Ouimette, Goldstein & Andrews, LLP in Poughkeepsie, New york, as soon as possible to discuss workers' compensation death benefits.
Beneficiaries
New York law specifies who is eligible for workers' compensation death benefits. The death benefit distribution laws are complex and vary with the individual situation, but beneficiaries may include, depending on the circumstances, surviving spouses; minor children; disabled or blind adult dependent children; young adult children with student status; dependent minor or young adult student grandchildren or siblings; dependent parents or grandparents; or disabled or blind adult dependent grandchildren or siblings.
If none of these parties survive, the benefits usually go to surviving parents or if no parents survive, to the decedent's estate and, in certain circumstances, to special public workers' compensation funds administered by the state.
Special workers' compensation death benefit laws may apply to survivors of workers and volunteers who died in the Sept. 11 attacks, or from injuries or diseases contracted on Sept. 11. Of particular note, surviving domestic partners, in either opposite-sex or same-sex relationships, of deceased Sept. 11 workers and volunteers may be eligible for the same benefits as surviving spouses.
Procedure
A beneficiary must file a claim for workers' compensation death benefits with the New York Workers' Compensation Board (WCB), even if the worker was receiving workers' compensation benefits for the death-causing injury or disease before his or her death. The death benefit is considered a separate claim from any benefits received or accrued during the worker's lifetime. Beneficiaries must take care to meet all deadlines and other legal requirements for death benefit applications.
Benefits
New York workers' compensation death benefits include funeral expenses and partial wage replacement.
Suicide
Normally workers' compensation death benefits are precluded when the worker intentionally commits suicide, unless the suicide resulted from a mental condition arising out of and in the course of employment. An example of an appropriate death benefit claim following worker suicide might be if the employee committed suicide because of mental deterioration caused by a serious work-related accident.
Act Now
In New York, death benefits are intended to provide a financial lifeline for certain surviving family members and dependents, but there are deadlines for application. Anyone whose spouse, parent, other relative or loved one died as the result of a work-related accident or disease should speak with a knowledgeable workers' compensation lawyer like one from Ouimette, Goldstein & Andrews, LLP in Poughkeepsie, New york, immediately about a possible right to workers' compensation death benefits.
Copyright ©2009 FindLaw, a Thomson Business
DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.
