If your spouse gets injured on the job, you know that workers’ compensation can pay for their lost wages, medical bills and things of this nature. The payments may not exactly equal what your spouse was earning, but they help you until he or she can return to work.
But what if that will never happen? Say that the injury is so severe that your spouse passes away on the job. Now you have funeral expenses along with everything else and you will never have more earnings from that job. Can you still get workers’ comp benefits?
The short answer is yes, that California workers’ compensation laws allow for death benefits, which can be made to dependents, children and spouses. They can also offer money for burial expenses and funeral costs.
If a minor is dependent on the person who died, these death benefits last until the youngest child is 18 years of age. If the minor is disabled, the benefits are never terminated. The total temporary disability rate is used when calculating how much should be paid, but there is a minimum: $224 per week. The benefit could be much more than that, but the minor will at least receive that much for as long as they qualify.
No amount of money will replace someone who is lost on the job, but the law recognizes that this type of tragic event has long-term financial ramifications. All of the earnings that a person expected have been lost forever. If you need compensation for this type of loss so that you can support your family and make ends meet, there are legal options.
