Alabama Administrative Code › Title 262 - ALABAMA CRIME VICTIMS COMPENSATION COMMISSION › Chapter 262-X-4 - ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR COMPENSATION › Section 262-X-4-.04 - Compensation Awards - Amounts And Methods Of Payment

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Compensation payable to a victim or
			 claimant sustaining economic loss due to injury or death may not exceed a total
			 of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00).
(2) Compensation for lost wages may not
			 exceed four hundred ($400.00) dollars per week.
(3) The Commission may provide for the
			 payment to a claimant in a lump sum or installments. Outstanding eligible
			 expenses will be paid directly to the service provider. Compensation payable to
			 service providers for medical treatment may be compensated at a reduced rate.
			 Outstanding charges for medical treatment, excluding psychiatric care,
			 counseling, and dental treatment, may be compensated at a reduced rate of
			 thirty percent (30%) of eligible charges up to a maximum amount of six thousand
			 dollars ($6,000). When the claimant has already paid out-of-pocket for medical
			 treatment and services, the claimant may be fully reimbursed for all eligible
			 expenses not to exceed $15,000.
(4)
			 Future Economic Loss.
(a) Future economic loss
			 is limited to $400.00 per week for a maximum of 26 weeks. Future economic loss
			 may be awarded if the victim was employed at the time of his/her victimization
			 and the employment is verifiable.
(b) If the deceased victim leaves a dependent
			 spouse and no dependent children, the total amount of the future economic loss
			 may be paid to the dependent spouse.
(c) If the deceased victim leaves a dependent
			 spouse and a dependent child or dependent children and the dependent spouse is
			 the parent of all the victim's dependent children, then the total amount of the
			 future economic loss may be paid to the dependent spouse for the benefit of
			 himself/herself and the dependent child or dependent children.
(d) If the deceased victim does not leave a
			 dependent spouse, but leaves dependent children, funeral/burial expenses may be
			 paid prior to the payment of future economic loss for a dependent child or
			 dependent children. After the payment of funeral/burial expenses, twenty-five
			 percent (25%) of the remaining compensation benefits may be used for the
			 compensation of the claimant's eligible expenses. The remaining compensation
			 benefits will be apportioned equally among the dependent children for whom a
			 request for future economic loss is made within the one-year filing deadline.
			 Dependent children who request future economic loss after the one-year filing
			 deadline may not receive compensation benefits. If there are compensation funds
			 remaining after the one-year filing deadline, they may be equally apportioned
			 and distributed to the deceased victim's dependent children who made a request
			 for future economic loss prior to the expiration of the one-year filing
			 deadline.
(e) If the deceased
			 victim leaves a dependent spouse and a dependent child or dependent children
			 for whom the parent or legal guardian is someone other than the dependent
			 spouse, funeral/burial expenses may be paid prior to the payment of future
			 economic loss for a dependent child or dependent children. After the payment of
			 funeral/burial expenses, fifty percent (50%) of the remaining compensation
			 benefits may be used for the compensation of the dependent spouse's eligible
			 expenses. The remaining compensation benefits will be apportioned equally among
			 the dependent children for whom a request for future economic loss is made
			 within the one-year filing deadline. Dependent children who request future
			 economic loss after the one-year filing deadline may not receive compensation
			 benefits.
(f) Legal proof that the
			 dependent spouse was married to the deceased victim at the time of the victim's
			 death will be requested. Legal proof that a dependent child was the legal child
			 of the deceased victim will be requested. For example: marriage certificate,
			 birth certificate, or court order.
1. A
			 claimant that asserts a common-1aw marriage with a deceased crime victim must
			 provide proof of the marriage by submitting one of the following:
(i) an official Internal Revenue Service tax
			 transcript indicating the claimant and deceased victim filed as married;
			 or
(ii) affidavits from three blood
			 relatives within the second degree of consanguinity of the deceased crime
			 victim swearing that the claimant and the deceased crime victim presented
			 themselves as married to each other. If the deceased crime victim does not have
			 three blood relatives within the second degree of consanguinity, the claimant
			 may submit an affidavit or affidavits from blood relatives within the third
			 degree of consanguinity. If the deceased crime victim does not have three blood
			 relatives within the third degree of consanguinity, the claimant may submit an
			 affidavit or affidavits from blood relatives within the fourth degree of
			 consanguinity. Birth certificates must be submitted to prove the relationship
			 of the affiant to the deceased crime victim.
(I) First-degree relatives include a crime
			 victim's parents and children.
(II)
			 Second-degree relatives include a crime victim's siblings and
			 half-siblings.
(III) Third-degree
			 relatives include a crime victim's nieces, nephews, aunts, and
			 uncles.
(IV) Fourth-degree
			 relatives include a crime victim's first cousins, great aunts, great uncles,
			 grandnieces and grandnephews.
(g) All awards for future economic loss shall
			 be diminished or denied to the extent that the future economic loss is recouped
			 from a collateral source.
(h) At
			 the discretion of the Commission, future economic loss may be paid in a lump
			 sum, but only upon a finding that the lump sum award will promote the best
			 interest of the claimant.
(i) When
			 the Commission determines that compensation for future economic loss will be
			 paid in installments, payments may be made in quarterly installments of $2,500
			 over a period of one year or until the total compensation award for future
			 economic loss is paid to the recipient(s). The one-year period for the purpose
			 of installment payments will begin the day the compensation award is approved.
			 An award payable in installments for future economic loss may be modified by
			 the Commission upon its findings that a material and substantial change of
			 circumstances has occurred.