Arkansas Workers Compensation Death Benefits

Entitlement to benefits can vary, depending upon one’s status as fully or only partially dependent. There is some variation among the states as to what date controls-the date of the accident or the date of death. Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law: Chapter 98, which discusses the dependent’s right to death benefits as an independent right derived from statute, is being revised and updated for the June 2010 release.

In one recent case from Arkansas, Estate of Slaughter v. City of Hampton Mun. League WC Trust, 102 Ark. App. 373, 285 S.W.3d 669, review denied, 2008 Ark. LEXIS 786 (2008), the executrix and employee were not married at the time of the compensable injury. They were, however, living together, and the executrix was dependent on the employee. Shortly before the employee died, he and the executrix were married. The Commission denied widow’s benefits to the executrix because she was not married to the employee when he suffered his injury. The executrix argued that the mere fact that she was married to and wholly dependent on the employee for her support when he died entitled her to widow’s benefits.

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Construing Ark. Code Ann. § 11-9-527, the appellate court held that the executrix did not need to prove that she was legally married to the employee when the injury occurred; she was required, however, to prove (a) that she was a widow and (b) that she was dependent on him at the time of the injury. The court indicated that since the Commission failed to make any finding regarding whether the executrix was actually and wholly dependent on the employee when he died, the matter had to be remanded [See Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law: Ch. 98, § 98.05[3] n7].

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Do not use this information without independent verification. All state laws vary. You should consult with your insurance broker or agent about workers’ comp issues.