Carondelet Health Services v. Industrial Commission

LACAGNINA, Presiding Judge.

In this appeal we must decide whether death benefits awarded under A.R.S. § 23-1046 are limited to the class of dependents specified in subsection A of the statute. We hold that they are so limited and set aside the award by the Industrial Commission allowing death benefits to be paid to the deceased employee’s 64-year-old sister.

Laura Joanne Timmons, the deceased employee, was born to Ila May Hiester when Hiester was 17 years old. Hiester’s mother and stepfather adopted Timmons and raised her as Hiester’s sister.1 Hiester married and left home when Timmons was 12…