Minnesota employees covered by workers’ compensation should have an understanding of what types of benefits this program provides. In addition to financial compensation if injured, the program also provides some financial benefits in the event that an employee dies. According to the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, these benefits may be available after a death due to an occupational illness or to a work-related accident.
Payments may be made to a deceased person’s dependents or estate if there are no dependents. Financial assistance for burials is also part of the program. The Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes explains that a dependent may be a minor child but may be other persons as well. Spouses and children 18 years of age and older with physical or mental handicaps may also be considered as dependents. So too may children under 26 who are enrolled in school full-time.
Extended family members who relied on the deceased employee for financial support either in part or in total may also be eligible for workers’ compensation death benefits as dependents. The amount of money a person may receive may vary in part based upon the number of people considered dependents as well as the level of dependency whether whole or part.
The workers’ compensation program identifies an order in which people may be provided death benefits. Wives, children and then husbands will be the first groups of people eligible followed by parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and parents in-law as well. A spouse who is paid death benefits from workers’ compensation and then gets married to another person may still be able to receive the benefits.
