Sundry provisions regarding death benefits.
Section 12
SEC. 12. Sundry provisions regarding death benefits.—In computing death benefits, the average weekly wages of the deceased employee shall not be reckoned at more than thirty pesos nor less than four pesos; but the total weekly compensation shall not in any case exceed the average weekly wages computed in accordance with section nineteen of this Act, nor shall the compensation paid in any case exceed in its aggregate the sum of three thousand pesos. The bona fide payment of a death compensation by an employer to a dependent entitled thereto in the second place after another dependent or dependents shall protect and exonerate the employer, unless and until the dependent or dependents having priority right shall notify him of his or their claim. In case an employer is doubtful regarding the rights or rival claimants, he may apply to the Bureau of Labor which, acting as referee, shall determine the persons who under this Act are entitled to compensation. If the decision of the Bureau of Labor in this case is not satisfactory to any of the claimants, it shall be incumbent upon the competent court to decide the matter, on the petition of an interested party. In the event of death occurring after a period of total or partial disability, the period of disability shall be deducted from the respective total periods established in section ten of this Act. The compensation of a demented person shall be paid to the guardian of such person.