I had a caller recently who called me about a work related injury, but didn’t know it.
Their relative had died of Covid and had a life insurance policy that paid out a benefit to her two minor children. The family wanted to use that money to pay for the funeral, but that wasn’t allowed because it was left to the benefit of the children.
It turned out that the relative who passed was a nurse. Under Illinois law it’s presumed that health care (and many other) workers who get Covid, got it from their job. So in those cases, victims, or in case of a death, their families, can bring a work comp case.
This death is of course tragic and the fact that she left behind two young kids makes it worse. That said, a lawyer’s job is take the emotion out of a case and prevent the facts. So while I don’t want to make it seem like we are making light of this situation, it’s important for people to know what their rights are.
In this or any other Illinois workers’ compensation death case, one of the benefits your estate receives is $8,000.00 toward funeral expenses. So while they can’t use the life insurance check in this case, there is a simple way to make sure a proper burial takes place.
On top of that, the kids would receive a minimum payout of $500,000.00, likely much more to help take care of them and partially compensate them for the loss of their mother.
We are going through some crazy times as a society. I highly recommend that if anyone you know passes from Covid or even has it, that you contact us for a free consultation to see if that illness can be in any way connected to the job. Please call us at 312-346-5578 for a free consultation. We help with cases everywhere in Illinois.
