Section 287.240 (4) provides, in part:
“4.The word “dependent” *** means a relative by blood or marriage of a deceased employee, who is actually dependent for support, in whole or part, upon his or her wages at the time of the injury. The following persons shall be conclusively presumed to be totally dependent for support upon a deceased employee, and any death benefit shall be payable to them to the exclusion of other total dependents:
(a) A wife***.
(b) Posthumous or adopted child or children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, under the age of eighteen years, ***for life if child is physically or mentally incapacitated from wage earning.
In Henley v Tan Co., 2004 WL 1375939 (Mo.App.S.D. 2004), employee’s granddaughter’s were awarded death benefits. The Commission held that the grandchildren were actually dependent upon their grandmother’s wages at the time of death and therefore were dependents under Section 287.240 of the workers’ compensation act. Here, employee lived with her daughter and grandchildren in a house employee put the down payment on. Employee contributed over $62,000 toward household expenses and Claimant’s support. The Court concluded that there was substantial evidence that claimants were at least in part dependent for support on employee’s wages at the time of her death.
In Mayer v Mayer, 4 S.W.2d 925 (Mo. App. E.D. 2001), an illegitimate son was found to be a presumptive total dependent under Section 287.240(4) and entitled to half the death benefits even though the worker was under no order to pay the son support at the time of his death. The son filed a paternity action only after the workers’ death and a judgment was entered finding the worker the father.