Bill would revise stipulations for survivor benefits in comp

A bill introduced in Georgia on Thursday would remove language in existing workers compensation law that eliminates survivor benefits for spouses who cohabitate.

H.B. 1375 would keep in place language that states dependency of a spouse — and thus benefits — “upon a deceased employee shall terminate with remarriage” and eliminates provisions that would terminate benefits under other circumstances.

Specifically, the bill crosses out “cohabitation in a meretricious relationship; and for this purpose cohabitation in a meretricious relationship shall be a relationship in which persons of the opposite sex live together continuously and openly in a relationship similar or akin  to marriage, which relationship includes either sexual intercourse or the sharing of living expenses.”