Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits in Ohio

Every year, thousands of Ohio workers are injured on the job: In 2024, employers reported 89,800 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses across private industry and state and local government. Unfortunately, some incidents are fatal: 165 workers died from occupational injuries in Ohio in 2024, or an average of 3.2 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers.

When someone dies from a work injury or occupational disease in Ohio, the state workers’ compensation system can provide death benefits to a surviving spouse, children, and other qualifying dependents. These benefits, which can replace part of the income your household lost after the death, may include payment of qualifying funeral expenses. 

At Plevin & Gallucci, we represent families seeking workers’ compensation benefits after a work-related death. If you’ve lost your spouse, parent, or another family member, call us for a no-obligation case review. 

Why Hire Plevin & Gallucci for an Ohio Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits Claim?

We’ve been protecting the rights of injured Ohio workers since 1971. Over the decades, we’ve represented thousands of injured workers and handled claims involving many fatal workplace accidents, occupational diseases, and more. If you’re seeking death benefits after losing a family member, let us fight for the outcome your family needs.

When you hire our law firm, you benefit from the following:

• Experience with Fatal Workplace Claims: We’ve represented families seeking benefits after fatal workplace incidents. In one case involving a man killed while driving for work, we obtained workers’ compensation benefits for his family. In another fatal accident, we secured benefits for the family and a further recovery from parties alleged to be at fault. 
• Developing Medical Causation Evidence: You may be entitled to benefits even if your loved one did not pass away immediately. When the death occurs later, we aim to establish the connection between the accident or illness and the death. In one case we handled, occupational chemical exposure led to cancer and we established widow benefits for the worker’s wife. 
• Establishing Dependency and Benefit Rights: Ohio law determines who can receive death benefits and how compensation is apportioned among qualifying dependents. We can determine which provisions apply to you and verify your eligibility. If several dependents qualify, we can help you address the allocation of benefits among the surviving family members.
• Litigating Disputed Claims: A denial or contested determination doesn’t necessarily end your claim. We regularly handle disputes through administrative hearings and even litigation when necessary. Our workers’ comp lawyers have obtained unanimous jury verdicts after employers challenged workers’ rights to benefits. We can identify the issues behind a dispute, develop the supporting record, and present your position.
• Pursuing Further Claims After a Workplace Death: Workers’ compensation may be one source of recovery after a fatal work incident, but another person or business can also be legally liable. Our attorneys can help determine whether you have a separate claim against a third party while pursuing workers’ compensation benefits. 

What are Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits?

Workers’ compensation death benefits may be paid to qualifying dependents when an employee dies due to a work-related injury or occupational disease. The amount is based on the deceased worker’s average weekly wage while eligibility depends on the claimant’s relationship to the deceased worker and, in some cases, the extent of financial dependency. 

Death benefits are separate from compensation the employee may have received while living. An existing workers’ compensation claim can supply medical and claim records relevant to a later death claim, but surviving dependents still must establish their right to payment. If no qualifying dependents exist, reasonable funeral costs and certain other expenses may still be payable under R.C. 4123.66. 

Who Can Receive Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits in Ohio?

R.C. 4123.59 identifies the different people who may receive death benefits. Under Ohio workers’ compensation law, some spouses and children are presumed wholly dependent, while parents and other relatives may qualify under separate provisions. The requirements vary according to the claimant’s relationship to the deceased employee and the support provided before the fatal work injury.

• Surviving Spouses: A surviving spouse is presumed wholly dependent if they were living with the employee at the time. (The same presumption applies when the spouses were separated.) A qualifying spouse can receive weekly payments until death or remarriage.
• Children: A child can be presumed wholly dependent when the deceased parent was contributing more than half of the child’s support and the child was living with them at the time of death. (The presumption can also apply when the deceased parent was legally responsible for the child’s maintenance.) 
• Parents: A surviving natural parent who lived with the employee at the time of death is presumed sufficiently dependent to receive a minimum award. If both natural parents qualify, the total minimum award is $3,000, which is divided equally between them. 
• Other Relatives: This includes siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, or other parents who can prove they relied on the worker for financial support, though wage replacement benefits may be limited or granted at the discretion of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.

If the employee leaves no dependents, Rule 4123-3-07 allows certain people or entities to file for services rendered due to the injury or occupational disease. Those filers can include the employee’s estate, attending physician, funeral director, a volunteer who paid the funeral bill, a person who authorized the funeral and burial expenses, or the employer.

How Much are Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits?

For a wholly dependent beneficiary, weekly compensation is 66 2/3% of the deceased employee’s average weekly wage, subject to the current maximum. For injuries received or occupational diseases first diagnosed after January 1, 1976, the weekly wage loss compensation can’t exceed the statewide average weekly wage in effect at the time. 

Note: When two or more people are wholly dependent, the administrator apportions the available compensation among the eligible beneficiaries according to their respective dependency. 

It’s different with partly dependent beneficiaries. Their weekly payment is 66 2/3% of the deceased employee’s average weekly wage, but the payment can’t exceed 66 2/3% of the statewide average weekly wage. The administrator also determines the period during which compensation is paid based on the degree of dependency. 

R.C. 4123.59 contains an additional provision for a claimant who was receiving total disability benefits at the time of death. In that situation, someone who is wholly dependent on the deceased claimant receives the maximum compensation available. Because the calculation can depend on the employee’s earnings, dependency classification, and the number of eligible beneficiaries, the weekly amount can differ from one workers’ comp claim to another. 

How Long Do Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits Last?

How long death benefits continue depends on who is receiving them. For example, a surviving spouse can receive weekly compensation from the date of the employee’s death until they die or remarry. If they remarry, the payments end and they receive a lump sum equal to two years of compensation at the weekly rate then being paid. 

For dependent children, payments can continue until age 18. If the child is enrolled in a full-time educational program, eligibility can continue until age 25. Children who are physically or mentally incapacitated can continue receiving compensation while that incapacity remains. 

Note: Ohio law protects certain incapacitated dependents who work in sheltered workshops. Their payments won’t end solely because of that employment as long as their income, compensation, or remuneration from the workshop doesn’t exceed $2,000 in any calendar quarter. 

FAQs About Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits in Ohio

Does Workers’ Compensation Pay Funeral or Burial Costs?

Workers’ compensation can pay reasonable funeral expenses when an employee dies from a work-related injury or occupational disease. For deaths occurring on or after September 26, 2025, the maximum payment is $7,500. 

Funeral expenses can be reimbursed to the person who paid them, even if that person doesn’t qualify as a dependent. This allows reimbursement to go to the individual who actually incurred the expense rather than limiting payment to a surviving spouse or another beneficiary. In addition:

• If an ambulance service, physician, or hospital emergency room attempted to revive the employee and provided treatment such as oxygen, medication, artificial respiration, or electroshock, those services and related equipment can be paid separately.
• Exceptional transportation costs may also be payable, including the cost of returning the deceased employee’s body when death occurred outside the area where the employee lived. 

What if the Worker Dies Months or Years After the Workplace Injury?

A worker doesn’t have to die immediately after an accident for surviving dependents to seek death benefits. The same is true when an occupational disease progresses over time. The central question is whether the work-related injury or disease caused the death. 

That said, when the employee dies months or years later, causation can become disputed. Ohio Administrative Code Rule 4123-3-09 requires the claimant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the death was the direct and proximate result of the occupational injury or disease. Causation can also be established when the work-related condition aggravated or accelerated a pre-existing condition to the extent that it substantially hastened death. 

Medical bills, records, and opinions may be used to establish that connection. Medical treatment records, diagnostic findings, physician statements, the death certificate, and records from an earlier workers’ compensation case can show how the employee’s condition developed before death.

Filing deadlines also apply: 

• For death resulting from an injury that occurred on or after September 29, 2017, the claim must be filed within one year. 
• If the underlying injury occurred before September 29, 2017, the filing period is generally two years from the date of death. 
• For occupational disease claims with a date of disease on or after September 28, 2021, the death claim must be filed within one year after death. If the date of disease is earlier, the filing period is generally two years. 

How Do You Apply for Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits?

Under Ohio Administrative Code Rule 4123-3-07, an application signed by someone claiming dependency is sufficient to start proceedings and obtain a ruling on the claim. Supporting documentation may include:

• Medical evidence connecting the death to the occupational injury or disease;
• Records establishing the claimant’s relationship to the employee;
• Proof of financial support when dependency isn’t presumed;
• Funeral bills when reimbursement is requested.

Benefits for employees of state-fund employers are paid from the state insurance fund, while self-insuring employers pay qualifying compensation and funeral expenses directly. 

Anyone seeking death benefits should work with an Ohio workers’ compensation lawyer. A lawyer can review the worker’s medical and claim history, identify the documents that support your eligibility, calculate the benefits at issue, and address problems before they lead to a denial or hearing. If the claim is disputed, your attorney can also prepare the evidence and represent you before the Ohio Industrial Commission, giving you the best chance of winning the benefits you need.

Call Plevin & Gallucci for Help with Your Workers’ Compensation Death Benefits Claim

A work-related death can leave surviving relatives with questions about eligibility and the evidence needed to connect the death to an injury or occupational disease. If you’re preparing a claim or dealing with a denial, Plevin & Gallucci can review your loved one’s medical history, prior claim records, wage information, and documents establishing dependency. We can also determine if the available evidence supports another claim against a third party responsible for the death.

To schedule an initial consultation with an Ohio workers’ compensation lawyer, call our law firm at (866) 989-4305, fill out our contact form, or click in the bottom right-hand corner of the page to chat with an agent now.