62-4-18. Death benefits--Payment to personal representative or beneficiaries--Distribution to heirs.

The compensation to be paid for injury which results in death, as provided in §§ 62-4-12 to 62-4-22, inclusive, shall be paid at the option of the employer either to the personal representative of the deceased employee or to the employee's beneficiaries, and shall be distributed to the heirs who formed the basis for determining the amount of compensation to be paid by the employer, the distributees' share to be in proportion of their respective dependency at the time of the injury on the earnings of the decedent. In the judgment of the court appointing the personal representative, a child's distributive share may be directed paid to the parent for the support of the child.

Source: SL 1917, ch 376, § 23; RC 1919, § 9458 (6); SL 1921, ch 420; SDC 1939, § 64.0402 (5); SDC 1939, § 64.0402 (6) as enacted by SL 1945, ch 352; SL 2008, ch 278, § 21.