Background

This transmittal amends section I-2-4-35 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to update instructions for when an administrative law judge (ALJ) may dismiss a claim due to the death of a claimant. We also made minor editorial and formatting changes.

Explanation of Content and Changes

We revised section I-2-4-35 as follows:

HALLEX I-2-4-35 A – We changed the title of the subsection to “General Policy” and incorporated information previously in subsections A and B. We added two sub-subsections addressing title II and title XVI considerations. We modified the language to more closely reflect the regulatory language and inserted helpful HALLEX citations. We removed information that was incorporated in HALLEX I-2-4-37. We moved some information to subsections B and C.

HALLEX I-2-4-35 B – We moved the information previously in the subsection to subsection A and titled the subsection “Claimant Dies Before the Hearing Is Held.” We explained that an ALJ may not dismiss a claim when there is a substitute party or qualified survivor unless the person states in writing that he or she does not wish to pursue the claim. We also incorporated information previously in HALLEX I-2-1-50 explaining the policy if the issue at hearing is revision of a wage earner's earnings record.

HALLEX I-2-4-35 C – We titled the subsection “Claimant Dies After the Hearing Has Been Held” and incorporated information previously in HALLEX I-2-1-50.

Date: December 29, 2014