Opinion ID: 1791305
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ms. Pedraza and Mr. Diaz are partial dependents

Text: Having decided, as the trial court did, to admit all of the evidence in this record, we reach this case's merits. We hold that Ms. Pedraza and Mr. Diaz are only partial dependents under the statute because Mr. Diaz earned income at the time of [Employee's] death and for a reasonable period of time immediately prior thereto. To qualify as an actual dependent, Ms. Pedraza and Mr. Diaz must have been [a m]other [or] father . . . who [was] wholly supported by the deceased employee at the time of death and for a reasonable period of time immediately prior thereto. Tenn. Code Ann. § 50-6-210(c) (1999). By contrast, Ms. Pedraza and Mr. Diaz were only partial dependents if they were [a] member of a class named in subsection (c) who regularly derived part of such member's support from the wages of the deceased employee at the time of death and for a reasonable period of time immediately prior thereto. Tenn.Code Ann. § 50-6-210(d) (1999) (emphasis added). [10] Thus, we must focus our inquiry on whether Employee wholly or in part supported his parents and whether that support came at the time of death and for a reasonable period of time immediately prior thereto. [11] Although noted by the trial court only in passing, it is undisputed in the record that, at the time of Employee's death and immediately prior to that time, Mr. Diaz worked and earned money for the benefit of his household. Beginning in September 2002, Mr. Diaz returned to work at a local gas company, earning 90 pesos per day for an unspecified number of days per week. On October 3, 2002, Employee died. Thus, we conclude that Mr. Diaz and Ms. Pedraza were not wholly supported by Employee at the time of [his] death. As a matter of law, we hold that Employee's parents were partial dependents [12] at the time of his death [13] and thus reverse the judgment of the trial court below on this issue. Because we cannot determine from the record the total award due to the parents, we remand this case to the trial court for a determination of the benefit due to the parents as partial dependents under Tennessee Code Annotated section 50-6-210(d).