If you are the spouse of a first responder who died in a work-related accident, you should be receiving a weekly or monthly check from the employer’s insurance company for the rest of your life. If you are not, that is a reason to seek assistance right away.
Generally, when an employee is killed in a work accident and the employer has workers’ compensation insurance, death benefits are paid to the spouse of that employee for life. However, those benefits are terminated if the surviving spouse remarries.
The laws in Texas have changed recently with respect to a spouse of a first responder who died at work. Now, even if the surviving spouse remarries, they remain entitled to death benefits for life. Significantly, it even says that the new law applies no matter when the death occurred. It doesn’t just affect new cases, but every death of a first responder since January 1, 1991!
Therefore, if you are a spouse of a first responder who was killed on the job, got remarried and had your workers’ compensation death benefits terminated, then you are now able to get those benefits reinstated and paid up from the time they were originally terminated.
Getting death benefits reinstated will likely require going through the hearing process at the Division of Workers’ Compensation. For information about that process, you can call our office, or you can download a free copy of our book, “The Ultimate Survival Guide For Texas Injured Workers: Everything You Need To Know To Beat Insurance Companies At Their Games.”
