(a)(1) If death results from the injury, the employer shall pay the dependents of the employee
wholly dependent upon his or her earnings for support at the time of his or her injury
or death, whichever is the greater in number, a weekly payment equal to the rate that
would have been payable for total incapacity to the deceased employee under the provisions
of § 28-33-17, except as provided in this section in case the dependent is the surviving spouse
or child under the age of eighteen (18) of that employee.
(2) If the dependent is a surviving spouse, or surviving spouse upon whom there is dependent
one or more children of the deceased employee including an adopted child or stepchild
under the age of eighteen (18) years or over that age but physically or mentally incapacitated
from earning, the employer shall pay the surviving spouse the weekly rate for total
incapacity the deceased employee would have been entitled to receive under the provisions
of § 28-33-17 plus forty dollars ($40.00) per week for each dependent child.
(3) “Child” within the meaning of this section also includes any child of the injured
employee conceived but not born at the time of the employee’s injury, and the compensation
provided for in this section shall be payable on account of any child from the date
of the child’s birth.
(b) Upon the remarriage or death of the surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving
spouse then upon the death of the injured employee, the compensation payable under
this chapter shall subsequently be paid to those dependent child or children of the
injured employee, and if there is more than one child the compensation shall be divided
equally among them and the compensation shall be not more than the weekly rate for
total incapacity due the injured employee under the provisions of § 28-33-17 for the dependent child plus forty dollars ($40.00) for each additional dependent
child.
(c) If the employee leaves dependents only partly dependent upon his or her earnings for
support at the time of his or her injury or death, the employer shall pay that dependent
from the date of the injury or death, whichever is greater in number, a weekly compensation
equal to the amount of the average weekly contribution by the employee to the partial
dependents, not exceeding the weekly payments provided in this section for the benefit
of wholly dependent persons.
(d) When weekly payments have been made to an injured employee before his or her death,
the compensation to dependents shall begin from the date of the last of those payments;
and provided, that if the deceased leaves no dependents at the time of the injury
or death, the employer shall not be liable to pay compensation under chapters 29 —
38 of this title except as specifically provided in § 28-33-16.
(e) Except in the case of a dependent child physically or mentally incapacitated from
earning, dependency benefits for each child shall terminate when that dependent child
attains his or her eighteenth (18th) birthday; provided, that the payment of dependency
benefits to a dependent child over the age of eighteen (18) years shall continue as
long as that child is satisfactorily enrolled as a full-time student in an educational
institution or an educational facility duly accredited or approved by the appropriate
state educational authorities at the time of enrollment. Those payments shall not
be continued beyond the age of twenty-three (23) years.
(f) When a surviving spouse without dependent children remarries, benefits payable under
this section shall cease on the date of the remarriage.
(g) A surviving spouse entitled to benefits under this section shall receive an annual
cost of living increase of four percent (4%) on every anniversary of the date of death
for so long as he or she is eligible for benefits under this section.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1964–2022 · leading case:
Hargreaves v. Jack, 750 A.2d 430 (R.I. 2000).
Hargreaves v. Jack, 750 A.2d 430 (R.I. 2000).
· cites it 6× “[5] Under the WCA, G.L.1956 § 28-33-12 provides in pertinent part: "(a)(1) If death results from the injury, the employer shall pay the dependents of the employee wholly dependent upon his or her earnings for support at the time of his or her injury or death whichever is the…”
Billington v. Fairmount Foundry, 724 A.2d 1012 (R.I. 1999).
· cites it 15× “On October 13, 1989, the then-Workers’ Compensation Commission (now the Workers’ Compensation Court) entered a decree ordering Fairmount to pay weekly compensation benefits to Sarah, Bill-ington’s sole dependent, effective February 21, 1989, and continuing pursuant to G.L. 1956…”
TARZIA v. State, 44 A.3d 1245 (R.I. 2012).
· cites it 2× “See G.L.1956§ 28-33-12. 17 . We note that the Legislature has imposed a waiting period of three years from the date of filing before a person charged with a crime of domestic violence may have his or her "records associated with the charge * * * expunged, sealed or otherwise…”
Stone v. Goulet, 522 A.2d 216 (R.I. 1987).
· cites it 3× “In a companion case, heard by the Workers’ Compensation Commission along with this one, five of Mathieu’s six children were found totally dependent and were awarded benefits under §§ 28-33-12 and -13 of the act. 1 Section 28-33-12 provides for the payment of death benefits to…”
Donnelly v. Town of Lincoln, 730 A.2d 5 (R.I. 1999).
· cites it 3× “On June 2, 1998, before this Court had the opportunity to rule on that petition, the Appellate Division reversed the trial judge and awarded the death benefits to Christopher’s estate as provided in G.L.1956 § 28-33-12, 2 retroactive from September 13, 1991, until further order…”
Hargreaves v. Reis, 977 F. Supp. 123 (D.R.I. 1997).
· cites it 6× “6 R.I.Gen.Laws § 28-33-12. Moreover, again in contrast to the IOD, section 28-29-17 affords covered persons with the option to either accept WCA coverage and thereby waive other remedies, or to decline such coverage and retain the rights the employee might have against the…”
Liberty Mut. Ins. v. Whitehouse, 868 F. Supp. 425 (D.R.I. 1994).
“Liberty argues, that, to the extent that the COLA amendment applies to workers injured before its effective date, the amendment was not foreseeable because, historically, amendments increasing workers’ compensation benefits had been applied only prospectively to those injured…”
Cataldo v. Admiral Inn, Inc., 227 A.2d 199 (R.I. 1967).
· cites it 3× “1956, §28-33-12, as amended, and §'28-33-13. The pertinent provisions of §28-33-12, as amended, are as follows: “If death results from the injury, the employer shall pay the dependents of the employee, wholly dependent upon his earnings for support at the time of his injury, or…”
Ricci v. Hall, 226 A.2d 692 (R.I. 1967).
“1956, §28-33-12. The applicability of the doctrine of res judicata to.”
Cogswell v. Max Silverstein & Sons, Inc., 488 A.2d 732 (R.I. 1985).
· cites it 6× “The rights of the dependent widow are not so separate and distinct from the right of the employee that they constitute separate causes of action but are based *734 upon one and the same cause of action, namely, the sustaining by the employee of a compensable injury.”
Doris Phillips v. Enter. Rent-A-Car Co. of Rhode Island, LLC. (R.I. 2022).
· cites it 2× “She sought weekly benefits pursuant to G.L. 1956 §§ 28-33-12 and 28-33-23, as well as funeral 1 Because petitioner and the employee, Joseph Phillips, share the same last name, we refer to Joseph at times by his first name for purposes of clarity.”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-12(a) — 1 case
Hargreaves v. Reis, 977 F. Supp. 123 (D.R.I. 1997).
“6 R.I.Gen.Laws § 28-33-12. Moreover, again in contrast to the IOD, section 28-29-17 affords covered persons with the option to either accept WCA coverage and thereby waive other remedies, or to decline such coverage and retain the rights the employee might have against the…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-12(b) — 1 case
Billington v. Fairmount Foundry, 724 A.2d 1012 (R.I. 1999).
“On October 13, 1989, the then-Workers’ Compensation Commission (now the Workers’ Compensation Court) entered a decree ordering Fairmount to pay weekly compensation benefits to Sarah, Bill-ington’s sole dependent, effective February 21, 1989, and continuing pursuant to G.L. 1956…”
— R.I. Gen. Laws § 28-33-12(g) — 1 case
Billington v. Fairmount Foundry, 724 A.2d 1012 (R.I. 1999).
“On October 13, 1989, the then-Workers’ Compensation Commission (now the Workers’ Compensation Court) entered a decree ordering Fairmount to pay weekly compensation benefits to Sarah, Bill-ington’s sole dependent, effective February 21, 1989, and continuing pursuant to G.L. 1956…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.