South Carolina General Assembly
108th Session, 1989-1990

Bill 3014

                    Current Status

Bill Number:               3014
Ratification Number:       99
Act Number                 58
Introducing Body:          House
Subject:                   Relating to the payment of workers'
                           compensation benefits when a deceased
                           employee leaves no dependents
                           or partial dependents
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A58, R99, H3014)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 42-9-140, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE PAYMENT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION BENEFITS WHEN A DECEASED EMPLOYEE LEAVES NO DEPENDENTS OR PARTIAL DEPENDENTS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF THE DECEASED EMPLOYEE LEAVES NO DEPENDENTS, THE EMPLOYER SHALL PAY THE COMMUTED AMOUNTS PROVIDED FOR IN SECTION 42-9-290 FOR WHOLE DEPENDENTS, LESS BURIAL EXPENSES WHICH MUST BE DEDUCTED FROM THOSE COMMUTED AMOUNTS, TO HIS SURVIVING NONDEPENDENT CHILDREN AND TO PROVIDE FOR PAYMENT WHEN THERE ARE NO SURVIVING NONDEPENDENT CHILDREN; AND TO AMEND SECTION 42-9-290, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE AMOUNT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION FOR THE DEATH OF AN EMPLOYEE DUE TO AN ACCIDENT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF A STUDENT'S FULL-TIME ENROLLMENT IN AN ACCREDITED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION ENDS, THE CHILD NO LONGER IS CONSIDERED A DEPENDENT, RATHER THAN PROVIDE THAT BENEFITS TERMINATE PERMANENTLY, AND PROVIDE THAT WHEN ALL THE DECEASED EMPLOYEE'S CHILDREN ARE NO LONGER DEPENDENT, THE REMAINDER OF THE BENEFITS MUST BE DIVIDED EQUALLY AMONG ALL THE CHILDREN.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Workers' compensation; no dependents; etc.

SECTION 1. Section 42-9-140 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 42-9-140. (A) If the deceased employee leaves no dependents, the employer shall pay the commuted amounts provided for in Section 42-9-290 for whole dependents, less burial expenses which must be deducted from those commuted amounts, to his surviving nondependent children.

(B) If the deceased employee leaves no dependents or nondependent children, the employer shall pay the commuted amounts provided for in Section 42-9-290 for whole dependents, less burial expenses which must be deducted from those commuted amounts, to his father and mother, irrespective of age or dependency.

(C) If the deceased employee leaves a partial dependent or dependents as defined in Section 42-9-120, the employer shall pay compensation to those dependents, in accordance with Section 42-9-290, and the remainder of the commuted amounts provided for in Section 42-9-290, less burial expenses, which must be deducted from the commuted amounts, to his nondependent children. If no children survive the deceased employee, then the remainder must be paid to his father and mother, irrespective of age or dependency.

(D) If the deceased employee leaves no dependents or nondependent children or mother or father, then his employer shall pay to the deceased's personal representative the actual costs for burial expenses and the administration of the deceased's estate, and to the commission the commuted amounts provided for dependents under Section 42-9-290, to be expended in accordance with Section 42-9-400.

(E) If the deceased employee leaves partial dependents as defined in Section 42-9-120 and no children or mother or father, then his employer shall pay to that partial dependent in accordance with provisions found in Section 42-9-290 and shall pay to the deceased's personal representative the actual cost of burial expenses and the administration of the deceased's estate, and to the commission the remaining compensation, commuted as provided under Section 42-9-290, to be expended in accordance with Section 42-9-400.

Payment as prescribed in this section releases the employer from all death benefit liability."

Workers' compensation; student's college enrollment; etc.

SECTION 2. The fourth paragraph of Section 42-9-290 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 390 of 1988, is further amended to read:

"If at the date of death of the employee, the employee has a child nineteen years of age or older enrolled as a full-time student in an accredited educational institution, the child is entitled to death benefits in the same manner as though he were under nineteen and must receive benefits, subject to the five-hundred-week limitation, until the age of twenty-three. However, if a student's enrollment ends, except for normal breaks and vacations in accordance with schedules of the school, the child no longer is considered a dependent. When all the deceased employee's children are no longer dependent, the remainder of the benefits must be divided equally among all the children."

Time effective

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.