Connecticut: Death Benefits Claim Filed 55 Weeks After Date of Death Was Timely

Where a Connecticut claimant timely filed a claim for disability benefits resulting from his exposure to various toxins during the course of his employment and where he subsequently died five years after the original diagnosis as a result of his condition, a claim for survivors’ benefits filed 55 weeks after the date of death was nevertheless timely, held the Supreme Court of Connecticut. The Court acknowledged that Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31–294c generally required a dependent or legal representative to file a claim for death benefits within either (a) two years from the date of the accident or first manifestation of a symptom of the occupational disease, or (b) within one year from the date of death, whichever is later. The statute did not apply where, as here, the decedent had filed a timely notice of claim for benefits during his lifetime. The Court indicated it would not engraft in § 31–294c a requirement that a dependent file a separate claim for survivor’s benefits.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law (LexisNexis).

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See McCullough v. Swan Engraving, Inc., 320 Conn. 299, 2016 Conn. LEXIS 17 (Feb. 2, 2016) [320 Conn. 299, 2016 Conn. LEXIS 17 (Feb. 2, 2016)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 126.11 [126.11]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

For more information about LexisNexis products and solutions connect with us through our corporate site