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Family Benefits

Philadelphia County Survivor Benefits

Survivor BenefitsUpdated September 2013

ONE-TIME DEATH BENEFIT

City of Philadelphia

Contact:
Karen Hyers, Director of Human Resources
Department of Human Resources
Municipal Services Building, 15th Floor
JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 686-2325
Website: www.phila.gov/personnel/Benefits.html

In the event of a line-of-duty death, there is a $25,000 Hero Survivor Fund.


WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

City of Philadelphia

Contact:
Office of the Director of Finance: Risk Management Division
1515 Arch Street, 14th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 683-1700
Website: www.phila.gov/finance/units-RiskManagement.html

See website.


FUNERAL BENEFIT

City of Philadelphia

Contact:
Office of the Director of Finance: Risk Management Division
1515 Arch Street, 14th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 686-2325
Website: www.phila.gov/personnel/Benefits.html

In the event of a line-of-duty death, the city covers all funeral benefits.


EDUCATION BENEFIT – CHILDREN

City of Philadelphia

Contact:
Department of Pensions
2 Penn Center Plaza
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 496-7400
Website: www.phila.gov/pensions

If the death of any active employee is caused solely by the performance of his duties, his spouse, minor children, or dependent parents may be eligible to receive service-connected death benefits.

  1. The spouse of the employee whose death has been determined to be service-connected will receive 60% of the deceased employee’s final compensation provided that he or she was living with the employee at the time of death. Additionally, each child under the age of 18 shall receive 10% of final compensation. However, total benefits will not exceed 80% of the deceased employee’s final compensation.
  2. If there is no eligible spouse or if the spouse dies or remarries* and there are still children under age 18, the benefit payable will be 25% of final compensation to each minor child, but will not exceed 75% of final compensation. age 14 of 20 Rev. 5/2013
    *does not apply to a widow of a police uniform employee (PA State Act 184)
  3. If there are neither spouse nor children eligible for the benefit, payment will be made to a dependent father or mother. In that case the benefit would be 15% of final compensation for each dependent parent.

The service-connected death benefit also includes a return of the deceased employee’s contributions without interest.
Service-connected death benefits will be reduced dollar for dollar by any amount paid by Workers’ Compensation.

If the spouse of the employee whose death has been determined to be service connected elects ordinary death benefits and dies while there are minor children (under age 18), the dollar amount of the benefit will be distributed proportionately among the surviving minor children. When a minor child attains age 18, or if a minor child dies, the benefit will be redistributed among the remaining minor children.

A service-connected death health care benefit is provided for the survivors of Police Officers and Fire Fighters whose deaths have been deemed service connected. Basically, the health care coverage provided would be the same as that to which the deceased employee would have been entitled. Specifically, coverage is maintained for the spouse for life or until remarriage* and for minor children up until age 18. However, if a child is enrolled as a fulltime undergraduate student, payment will continue until age 22 or until the child ends his student status, whichever occurs first.


NON-PROFIT OR PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS

Contact:
Hero Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia
1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 933
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1821
Phone: (215) 496-6678
E-mail: [email protected]

Provides assistance to children of City of Philadelphia firefighters killed in the line of duty. $10,000 one time payment. Full tuition to any college for children age 21 or under. $250 provided each semester for books. $1,250 per semester for tuition and $250 per semester for books to children of disabled firefighters.

Contact:
Hero Thill Show, Inc.
James J. Binns, Chairman/CEO
1818 Market St.
Suite 3750
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 922-4000
Website: herothrillshow.org

Assists in college education for the children of firefighters killed in the line of duty.

 


Disclaimer: The material contained in the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Survivor Benefits website is not the result of legal research, but rather is based on a scan of public documents. We have made every effort to be accurate and timely, but errors may exist. The material on this website is advisory only and should not be cited as evidence or proof that a benefit exists or that our facts are accurate. Always consult the decedent’s fire department for benefits assistance, or a benefits’ attorney. If, in the course of your own research, you see errors of fact, or new benefit information, please pass this information along to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.