69 The Alabama Lawyer 369 (2008). Worker's Compensation and the Amendment of Alabama's Intestacy Statute.

• Author: BY SANDRA PAYNE HAGOOD

The Alabama Lawyer

2008.

69 The Alabama Lawyer 369 (2008).

Worker's Compensation and the Amendment of Alabama's Intestacy Statute

Worker's Compensation and the Amendment of Alabama's Intestacy StatuteBY SANDRA PAYNE HAGOOD Many of you may recall reading about the senseless shooting of a clerk at a hotel near the airport on Thanksgiving Day a few years ago. In representing the children of the one of the clerks killed in that shooting in their Workers' Compensation claim, I learned that the 1990 amendments to Alabama's intestacy statute had caused a probably unintended effect on who could be a dependent under Alabama's Workers' Compensation laws.

In this case, the deceased worker, "Tracey," was the natural mother of two minor children who were partially dependent on her for their support. However, because she was very young when her first child was born and because she subsequently developed a drug addition, Tracey had allowed her own mother, "Carol," to adopt Tracey's two children. Thus, the two children had been adopted by their maternal grandmother. The grandmother filed a Workers' Compensation complaint for death benefits as the children's guardian and next friend.

During her lifetime, Tracey had maintained a close relationship with her children. She made regular visits; she occasionally had them over to spend the night with her; and most importantly, she made significant, if somewhat erratic, financial contributions for their clothing and other needs. Tracey's financial support was a significant contribution to what Carol was able to provide for the children. Carol sought to recover this financial support for the children in their Workers' Compensation claim.

However, Tracey's employer argued that the children could not be her Workers' Compensation dependents because they had been adopted by their grandmother. The employer based its argument on a change made in Alabama's Intestacy Statute effective in 1991. However, we obtained a settlement on behalf of the children by arguing that the same change meant that, if the two children were not Tracey's "children," then they were her siblings. In either event, they were Tracey's Workers' Compensation dependents.

The Alabama's Workers' Compensation statute defines "children," in relevant part, as those "entitled by law to inherit as children of the deceased." Ala. Code 1975 § 25-5-1. By defining "children" as those "entitled by law to inherit," the Workers' Compensation statute incorporates Alabama's intestacy statute, Ala. Code §...