Florida Injury Attorneys Blog
Don’t delay on filing a claim for the death of a defense contractor worker. When workers are sent overseas and pass away, a death claim should always be filed and it is best to think that it must be filed within one year. This is called the Statute of Limitations. Most overseas contractor employees are on call 24 hours per day, 7 days per week even during their recreational time. This means most death claims are compensable for the overseas worker. A worker’s death on Guam as he was trying to save 2 drowning men was held compensable. In O’Leary v. Brown-Pacific-Maxon, 340 U.S. 504, 508 (1951), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death arose from the “zone of special danger”. When an employee in Korea spent his recreation day boating with a friend, his drowning was ruled compensable by the US Supreme Court. O’Keeffe v. Smith, Hinchman, 380 U.S. 359, 363-4 (1965). 
Death Benefits are the same for aliens and non-nationals as United States Residents (and Canadian Residents) except….Dependency benefits in any foreign country are limited to the surviving wife or children, or if none exists to the father or mother whom the employee partially supported for the year prior to the death. 42 USCS 1652(b). For US Residents and Canadian Residents making a claim for death benefits, understand that the wife, children, parents, grandparents are entitled to benefits but if none exists, then anyone is a dependent if they receive more than ½ of their support from decedent and they may apply for and receive death benefits 33 USC 909(d), 26 USCS 152.
The most important point I want you to remember is Dependents only have one year from the Death to file a claim. This is called the Statute of Limitation. On a death claim. Once we are retained, this firm files a LS-262 within one year of the death. So if your loved one died from a bomb blast for instance as happened last month to a Valiant Integrated Services worker, the family must file within one year.