§7385s–3 Compensation schedule for survivors

Summary

Survivors of DOE contractor workers can get a one-time payment if the worker would have qualified for compensation for a covered illness and it is at least as likely as not that toxic exposure at a DOE site was a significant factor in the worker’s death. The payment is $125,000 normally. It is $150,000 if the worker also had at least 10 years, before reaching normal Social Security retirement age, when illness lowered their yearly pay to 50% or less of their average annual wage. It is $175,000 if that period was at least 20 years. If more than one amount could apply, the survivor gets only the highest amount. If a covered spouse is alive at payment time, the payment goes to that spouse. If there is no covered spouse, the money is split equally among covered children who are alive then. If both a covered spouse and at least one covered child who is not the spouse’s natural or adopted child are alive, a different rule applies. Definitions: covered spouse = married to the worker for at least one year before death; covered child = under 18, or under 23 and a full-time student continuously since 18, or unable to support themselves; child = natural child, a stepchild who lived with the worker as a parent, or an adopted child.