May and John Doe adopt their eight-year-old grandson Joseph. John dies in a work-related accident. Mary is a dependent spouse. How many dependents are there?

May and John Doe adopt their eight-year-old grandson Joseph. John dies in a work-related accident. Mary is a dependent spouse. How many dependents are there?

• A. 2 total dependents.
• B. 1 total and 1 partial.
• C. 2 partial dependents.
• D. 1 total and no partial dependents.

Answer: (D)

The concept at play is who qualifies as a dependent for survivor benefits when the employee dies. Dependents are those who rely on the decedent for support at the time of injury, with a spouse who is wholly dependent and children (including adopted children) who are the employee’s dependents. In this scenario, the surviving spouse (Mary) is a dependent for support, so she counts as one dependent. The eight-year-old Joseph, though adopted, is a grandchild. Dependency for this purpose is confined to the employee’s own lineal descendants (children) or legally dependent spouses; a grandchild adopted by the couple does not add a second dependent in this calculation. Therefore there is only one total dependent, and there are no partial dependents.

The concept at play is who qualifies as a dependent for survivor benefits when the employee dies. Dependents are those who rely on the decedent for support at the time of injury, with a spouse who is wholly dependent and children (including adopted children) who are the employee’s dependents.

In this scenario, the surviving spouse (Mary) is a dependent for support, so she counts as one dependent. The eight-year-old Joseph, though adopted, is a grandchild. Dependency for this purpose is confined to the employee’s own lineal descendants (children) or legally dependent spouses; a grandchild adopted by the couple does not add a second dependent in this calculation. Therefore there is only one total dependent, and there are no partial dependents.