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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Employment and Workers Comp

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Monday, December 1, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.


  • Live Online


    On Demand

Early Bird Pricing!
MSRP
$197.00
$167.45
Save $29.55

Discount expires 10/10/25

This course is $0 with these passes:

CLE
ALL

This CLE webinar will examine the issues facing claimants and defense counsel when an employee's death appears to be work-related and dependents file a workers' comp death benefits claim. The panel will offer best practices for guiding eligible dependents through this complex process and present viable defenses for employer and insurance counsel.

Faculty

Scott M. Blumen
Attorney
The Law Offices of Scott Blumen

Mr. Blumen exclusively handles personal injury and workers’ compensation cases. He produces favorable results because of a clearly-defined mission to listen to clients and achieve their goals through responsible and effective representation on a cost-efficient basis.

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Michael P. Del Bueno
Partner
WHITT DEL BUENO CLARK

Mr. Del Bueno has practiced primarily in the area of insurance defense and workers’ compensation law. He writes articles on workers’ compensation issues in Whitt Del Bueno Clark’s e-newsletter. Mr. Del Bueno is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys.

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Description

When an employee dies as a result of a workplace accident or occupational disease, their family members may be eligible to receive death benefits (also known as survivor benefits) and funeral costs, up to a maximum amount provided by state law. Claimants' counsel should understand how to help eligible dependents navigate the process of obtaining benefits and assist them through potential challenges including evidentiary issues that may arise in proving that the fatality was work-related, or determining when a wrongful death suit should be filed.

On the other hand, employers can be at a disadvantage when contesting these claims. Therefore, employer and insurance counsel should know how to raise viable defenses including questioning whether the death was in fact work-related.  

Listen as our expert panel guides practitioners through the challenges faced by both claimants and defense counsel when a workers' comp death benefits claim is filed and offers best practices for navigating this process.

Outline

I. Introduction

A. Workplace fatality statistics

II. Claimant considerations

A. Eligible dependent

B. Work-related death

C. Types of compensation; benefit caps

D. Claim-filing time limits

E. Evidentiary issues

F. Exceptions to the exclusive remedy rule: when to file a wrongful death suit

III. Defense challenges

A. Determining when to challenge a death benefits claim

B. Viable defenses

IV. Practitioner takeaways

Benefits

The panel will review these and other important considerations:

  • Under what circumstances do workers' comp death benefits apply?
  • Who may qualify as dependents eligible to file a workers' comp death benefits claim?
  • What challenges may claimants' counsel face when proving that an employee's death was work-related?
  • What defenses are available to employer and insurance counsel when faced with a death benefits claim?