The Maryland Court of Appeals overturned a trial court ruling that caused the widow of a county firefighter to forfeit partial death benefits awarded after her husband’s death.
The appeals court ruled Wednesday that a trial court wrongly reversed a Workers’ Compensation Commission decision that awarded partial death benefits to Janet Conrad after the 2017 death of her husband, Montgomery County firefighter Joseph Conrad.
Mr. Conrad was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in 2012 and later died.
In May 2019, Ms. Conrad filed a tort claim seeking alimony, and the Commission found that Ms. Conrad was partially dependent on her husband at the time of his death. It gave her partial death benefits.
Mrs. Conrad argued that the commission erred in calculating her dependency from the time of her husband̵
7;s death rather than the time of disability. The district court found that she was not entitled to death compensation.The district court, which also found that Ms. Conrad became fully self-sufficient after her husband’s death, granted the county’s motion for summary judgment and remanded the case to the commission for a new order.
Conrad appealed the decision.
The Court of Appeal found that there was no dispute that Ms. Conrad, who was not employed when her husband became ill, was completely financially dependent on her husband.
The appeals court said the trial court erred in ruling that to award the appropriate level of death benefits, the commission must determine a widow’s level of dependency at the time of death, and not the date of disability.
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