Death benefits will be paid to the subsequent injury fund (SIF) if:

1. the deceased employee has no living legal beneficiaries;
2. if no claim for death benefits is made in a timely manner; or
3. if all of the deceased employee's legal beneficiaries cease to be eligible for death benefits before the expiration of the 364 full weeks of death benefits or, in the case of an eligible parent who is not a surviving dependent of the deceased employee, the earlier of the date the eligible parent dies or the date of the expiration of 104 weeks of death benefit payments. TLC Section 403.007(a); TLC Section 408.184(c); TLC Section 408.182(e); 28 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) 132.11(f), 28 TAC Section 132.10(a),(b), TLC Section 408.183(f-1).

Any death benefits remaining to be paid when all legal beneficiaries become ineligible shall be redistributed to the SIF. TLC Section 408.184(c). DWC has no power to determine any other circumstances to which death benefits are payable to the SIF. APD 960592. An ALJ does not have the option to not order payment to the SIF when the facts require such action. APD 971099.