Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits Attorneys in Ocean, Middlesex, and Monmouth County, NJ

What are some important things to know as you prepare to file a workers’ compensation claim to receive death benefits on behalf of your deceased loved one?

There are many professional settings that have a risk of employees becoming injured or ill on the job. While it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that proper protective measures, machinery and process training, and safety protocols are in place, accidents happen. For this reason, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Resource Development requires that each employer have either workers’ compensation insurance or approval for self-insurance.

What types of benefits does workers’ compensation insurance offer employees who are injured on the job, and what happens in the case of an employer’s death?

Workers’ compensation insurance covers five types of benefits in the case that an employer is injured or made ill by a condition of their work environment. Benefits include medical benefits, temporary total benefits, permanent partial benefits, permanent total benefits, and death benefits. Death benefits are offered to the family or dependents of an employee who is killed as a direct result of their employment. These benefits include funeral costs of up to $3,500 in New Jersey, as well as 70 percent of the employee’s weekly wage – the same rate as a temporary disability – paid for the full maximum time period determined by state mandates, which according to New Jersey workers’ compensation law is 450 weeks.

If your loved one has been killed as a result of their job in New Jersey, you would hope that recovering these death benefits through the workers’ compensation law would be a straightforward process. Unfortunately, there are often more hoops to jump through than would be ideal for a grieving family. For this reason, it is important to have the support of a workers’ compensation attorney.

Eligibility for Death Benefits in New Jersey

Death benefits are offered through an employer’s workers’ compensation insurance to dependents of the victim. Who, however, are considered dependents? New Jersey law defines dependents of a deceased employee as:

• the spouse, partner through civil union, and/or dependent children of the employee who were living within the employee’s household at the time of their death (children are considered by New Jersey law to be dependents until they reach the age of 18 years old unless they are full-time students, in which case they are considered dependents until 23 years old; additionally, children who are disabled could qualify for additional benefits)
• the spouse, partner through civil union, and/or dependent children of the employee who were not living within the employee’s household at the time of their death, but can provide documentation proving that they meet the requirements for receipt of death benefits

The above represent people who would be eligible to receive death benefits in the case that their loved one dies in the course of their employment. There are situations, however, in which a surviving spouse may not be eligible to receive death benefits, or may only be eligible to receive them for a certain period of time. For example, if the deceased employee’s spouse does not have dependent children and remarries after the death, the spouse will be eligible to receive death benefits for two years, as opposed to the 450 weeks spouses generally receive under state statutes. A spouse who married their partner after the injury that eventually led to their death; or a spouse who left their partner, the deceased employee, over a year before the accident or workplace injury onset; or a spouse who left their partner after the accident, may not be eligible to receive benefits.

What do death benefits include for NJ workers’ comp claims?

In New Jersey, spouses and dependents are entitled to receive up to $3,500 for funeral expenses, as well death benefits, which are paid out on a weekly basis. The amount of death benefits depends on the number of dependents the employee had. If the employee had only a spouse or one dependent, the weekly benefits paid to that dependent are 50 percent of the deceased employee’s weekly wage. Benefits increase five percent of the employee’s weekly wage per dependent until 70 percent of the employee’s weekly wage has been reached.

In order to ensure that you and dependents receive your fair share of death benefits for the loss of your loved one, it is important to have a skilled workers’ compensation lawyer working on your behalf.

Contact our Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits Lawyers in West Long Branch NJ for a Free Consultation

If you have lost a loved one due to a workplace injury or illness, we are here to support you in receiving your fair death benefits while you and your family focus on grieving and supporting the deceased’s children in dealing with the loss.

At Chamlin, Uliano & Walsh, we take pride in successfully representing clients in Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Oakhurst, Lakewood Township, Toms River, New Brunswick, Freehold, Middletown, and other Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean County areas. Whether you have children or not, we can support you in this difficult transition time and zealously pursue the death benefits that you are entitled to.

Contact us online or call (732) 440-3950 today to discuss your rights to workers’ compensation in a free and confidential consultation. An attorney on our staff is ready to discuss your individual needs and concerns.