48-123. Compensation; death of employee receiving disability payments; schedule.

The death of an injured employee prior to the expiration of the period within which he or she would receive such disability payment shall be deemed to end such disability, and all liability for the remainder of such payment which he or she would have received in case he or she had lived shall be terminated, but the employer shall thereupon be liable for the following death benefit in lieu of any further disability indemnity: If the injury so received by such employee was the cause of his or her death and such deceased employee leaves dependents as hereinbefore specified, the death benefit shall be a sum sufficient, when added to the indemnity which shall at the time of death have been paid or become payable under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act to such deceased employee, to make the total compensation for the injury and death equal to the full amount which such dependents would have been entitled to receive under section 48-122, in case the accident had resulted in immediate death; and such benefits shall be payable in the same manner and subject to the same terms and conditions in all respects as payments made under such section. No deduction shall be made for the amount which may have been paid for medical and hospital services and medicines or for the expenses of burial. If the employee dies from some cause other than the injury, there shall be no liability for compensation to accrue after his or her death.

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Annotations

Where injured employee dies during pendency of litigation, payment of compensation will be made in accordance with this section. Smith v. Stevens, 173 Neb. 723, 114 N.W.2d 724 (1962).

Employer was not liable for death benefit hereunder where evidence was not sufficient to support claim of compensable injury. Kuhtnick v. Carey, 124 Neb. 762, 248 N.W. 89 (1933), 124 Neb. 761, 248 N.W. 92 (1933).

Action by injured employee, pending at time of death, may be revived by dependents or administrator. Palmer v. Saunders County, 117 Neb. 484, 221 N.W. 99 (1928).