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All of the benefit information below has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Rev. 02/05
STATE OF MARYLAND
DEATH BENEFITS
To obtain certified copies of registered personal documents, contact the Division of Vital
Records, P. O. Box 68760, Baltimore, MD 21215, phone (301) 225-5988.
STATE DEATH BENEFITS
4-1002. ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND
A death benefit shall be paid to the surviving spouse, children or dependent parents of any
law enforcement officer of the State or of any political subdivision of the State, any sheriff or
deputy sheriff, any correctional officer, or any volunteer or professional firefighter or rescue
squad member who is killed or dies in the performance of duties on or after July 1, 1989. The
amount of the benefit shall be $50,000.
A death benefit of $100,000 will be paid to the surviving spouse, children, or dependant
parents of a State law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty on or after July 1, 2000.
This sum shall be in addition to any workmen's compensation benefits and proceeds of any
form of life insurance regardless of who paid the premium on the insurance.
Payment shall be made as follows:
(1) To the surviving spouse;
(2) If there is no surviving spouse payment shall be made to the
surviving child or children of the decedent in equal shares.
(3) If there is no surviving spouse or children, payment shall be
made to the surviving parent or parents, if the parent was a
dependent as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue
Code.
FUNERAL BENEFIT
The Maryland Legislature passed and the governor signed a bill in 1996 to provide reasonable
funeral expenses, not to exceed $10,000. The funeral benefit shall be reduced by the amount
of any related Workers’ Compensation benefits paid.
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Contact: Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Suite 310, 6776
Reistertown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215-2341.
STATE PENSION BENEFITS
The state retirement system provides two methods of payments when death occurs prior to
retirement.
Ordinary Death Benefit. When death occurs with one through two years' of service, the
member's contributions and an amount equal to one year's annual salary are paid. (Under one
year of service the accumulated contributions only are paid.)
Special Death Benefit. When death occurs with more than two years' of service, the
member's accumulated contributions are paid. In addition, the surviving spouse or children
under 18 years of age will receive 66 2/3 percent of the sum of the employee's final average
salary. Payments terminate upon the death of the spouse or the child's 18th birthday.
Contact the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, Suite 310, 6776
Reistertown Road, Baltimore, MD 21215-2341.
COUNTY PENSION BENEFITS
Benefits vary in each county. Contact the Retirement Administrator in the Pension and
Benefits Division in the county where employed.
STATE INCOME TAX
Effective July 1, 2001, any death benefit paid from a pension system received by a law
enforcement officer's surviving family is free from State taxes. This affects survivors of State
Troopers killed in the line of duty after July 1, 1972.
PROPERTY TAX CREDIT
Effective June 1, 2003, Section 9-210 of the Annotated Code of Maryland is amended to read:
The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore City or the governing body of a county or
municipal corporation may grant, by law, a property tax credit under this section against the
county or municipal corporation property tax imposed on a dwelling that is owned by a
surviving spouse of a fallen law enforcement officer or rescue worker (1) if the dwelling was
owned by the fallen law enforcement officer or rescue worker at the time of the fallen law
enforcement officer’s or rescue worker’s death; (2) if the fallen law enforcement officer or
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rescue worker or the surviving spouse was domiciled in the State as of the date of the fallen
law enforcement officer’s or rescue worker’s death and the dwelling was acquired by the
surviving spouse with 2 years of the fallen law enforcement officer’s or rescue worker’s death;
or (3) if the dwelling was acquired after the surviving spouse qualified for a credit for a former
dwelling under item (1) or (2) of this subsection, to the extend of the previous credit.
EDUCATION BENEFITS
18-601. EDUCATION - SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CHILDREN AND SPOUSES OF
STATE OR LOCAL PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES KILLED IN THE LINE OF
DUTY (Amended 1990)
"Child" means any child who is at least 16 years old and under the age of 24 of any State or
local public safety employee killed in the line of duty.
"Spouse" means a person who: Is legally married to any State or local public safety employee
at the time that the public safety employee is killed in the line of duty; and has not
remarried.
"State or local public safety employee" means a career or volunteer member of a fire
department; ambulance company or squad; or rescue company or squad; a law enforcement
officer; and a member of the Maryland National Guard who was a resident of the estate at
the time of death.
Established - There is a program of scholarships that are awarded under this section. The
program is the Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship Program.
Eligibility - A person may apply to the Administration for a scholarship under this section if
the person:
A. Is at least 16 years old and a son or daughter of any State of local
public safety employee killed in the line of duty; or
B. Is the surviving spouse of any State of local public safety employee
killed in the line of duty. (Refer to definition of surviving spouse
above.)
Use; amount - A scholarship awarded under this section:
(1) May be used for the tuition and mandatory fees at any eligible
institution; and
(2) May not exceed the equivalent annual tuition and mandatory fees of a
resident undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College
Park.
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Duration - Each recipient of a scholarship under this section may hold the award for 5 years
of full-time study or 8 years of part-time study.
This scholarship program is also available to dependents of veterans as well as disabled police
officers. Scholarship amounts are determined by the funding available and the number
of applications. In recent years, scholarships have ranged from 65% to 91% of total
tuition and mandatory fees.
Applications can be obtained from the Maryland Higher Education Commission, State
Scholarship Administration, 16 Francis Street, Annapolis, MD 21401, telephone (410)
974-2971.
POLICE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS
The Police Corps is administered by the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement
Education (OPCLEE), within the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, in
partnership with participating States that have submitted an approved State Plan. Information
can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.
The Police Corps awards scholarships and reimburses educational expenses to students who
agree to work in a State or local police force for at least four years. Students must pursue an
undergraduate or graduate degree in a course of study which, in the judgment of the State or
local police force to which the participant will be assigned, includes appropriate preparation
for police service. Police Corps funds cover education expenses (including tuition, fees,
books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses) up to $7,500
per academic year, with a limit on total payments to any student of $30,000.
Police Corps scholarship funds are also available to dependent children of law
enforcement officers killed in the line of duty if the death occurred in the state after that
state was approved to participate in the Police Corps program. In Maryland, the death
must have occurred since August 1996. These scholarships may be applied to any course
of study, without any service or repayment obligation.
Police Corps participants are selected on a competitive basis by each State under regulations
prescribed by OPCLEE.
For more information, contact: Donald Healy at the Governor’s Office of Crime
Control and Prevention, phone 888-972-6777, fax 410-859-8227, email
dhealy@policecorps.net or visit www.policecorps.net.
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HEALTH BENEFITS
Varied depending upon police department benefits. Spouses of state and county officers
may elect to continue to participate in the same benefit program in effect at the time of the
officer's death. Contact the Benefits Coordinator at your agency.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Workers' Compensation coverage for employers in Maryland is compulsory; however,
waivers are allowed.
The benefit shall be 66 2/3% of the employee's wage paid either to a spouse or a spouse and
children, with a weekly minimum benefit of $50 or the worker's average wage if less than $50
and a maximum weekly benefit of $510. There is also a maximum burial allowance of
$2,500. Burial expenses in excess of maximum are payable if approved by the Workers'
Compensation Commission if there are no dependents.
Spouse will receive a two-year lump sum payable upon remarriage, and weekly benefits will
cease. Children receive benefits until age 18 or beyond age 18 if physically or mentally
disabled, or until age 23 if full-time students.
There is a maximum cap of $45,000. Benefits may continue after a maximum of $45,000
has been paid if there remain wholly dependent survivors.
To receive workers' compensation benefits the surviving spouse must take the initiative and
file a workers' compensation claim through a workers' compensation attorney to receive any
compensation. The determination as to whether the claim will be paid will be determined by
the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.
To obtain a claim form, contact the Workers' Compensation Commission at 6 North
Liberty Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-3785, telephone (410) 333-4700.
PERSONAL LIFE POLICY - INTESTATE
Descent and Distribution - Real estate and personal estate both pass directly to personal
representative for administration and distribution as follows: Entire estate, or if there be
surviving spouse, excess over share of spouse descends and is distributed as follows, each
class of which member is living taking to exclusion of subsequent classes: (1) To surviving
issue by representation; (2) to surviving parents equally or, if only one, to that one; otherwise,
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to issue of parents by representation; (3) one-half to surviving paternal grandparents equally
or, if only one, to that one; otherwise, to issue of paternal grandparents by representation; and
one-half to surviving maternal grandparents equally or, if only one, to that one; otherwise, to
issue of maternal grandparents by representation; if pair of grandparents or their issue fail to
survive, their one-half is distributable as provided for other one- half; (4) one-quarter to each
pair of great-grandparents equally or to survivor of each pair or, if neither survives, to issue of
pair by representation; if any pair of great-grandparents and issue fails to survive, its onequarter
is distributable as provided for other three-quarters; (5) to living stepchildren equally
(and issue of deceased stepchildren by representation), if born to non-divorced legal spouse.
"Issue" is defined as every living lineal descendant of ancestor fails to survive decedent by 30
days, his is deemed to have predeceased decedent and is not entitled to rights of heir.
Degrees of Kindred - computed by civil law method by counting from decedent up to common
ancestor and then down to claimant.
Surviving spouse - takes one-half if there is minor surviving child; $15,000 and one-half of
residue if there is surviving issue, but no surviving minor child, or if there is no surviving
issue, but surviving parent; whole estate if there is no surviving issue or parent. Person cannot
be surviving spouse if person: (1) Is validly and absolutely divorced from decedent, or if
marriage validly annulled; (2) voluntarily appears in foreign proceeding where decedent
obtained absolute divorce or annulment, even if not recognized in Maryland; (3) was
remarried after decedent obtained decree of divorce or annulment; or (4) was convicted of
bigamy while married to decedent.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Peer Support
Established in 1984, Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (COPS), is a national, non-profit
organization that works with law enforcement agencies, police organizations, mental health
professional, and local peer-support organizations to provide assistance to surviving families
of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. COPS has become a "lifeline" to police
survivors nationwide.
For more information, contact Maryland COPS, Mrs. Sue Nickerson, President, PO Box
125, Worton, MD 21678, 410-348-5653, email mikie@dmv.com.
STATE FLAG (4-1003 Annotated Code of Maryland) The Secretary of State of Maryland
shall issue a Maryland State flag to the family of any policeman killed in the line of duty. The
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flag shall be presented to the family of the deceased policeman by the State Senator of the
legislative district in Maryland in which the deceased resided.
HEROES, Inc. was founded in 1964, as a totally nonprofit volunteer organization
incorporated in the District of Columbia under Charitable Registration Certificate No. 6-07-
398 to serve the surviving families of all officers within the Metropolitan Washington, DC,
area (The District of Columbia, Prince George's County and Montgomery County in
Maryland, and Arlington and Fairfax Counties in Virginia).
Within 24 hours of an officer's death, a check in the amount of $3,500 is delivered to the
family to be used for immediate emergency expenses.
At a later date, usually within two to four weeks, the surviving spouse will meet with the
HEROES Executive Committee to identify other personal areas where financial assistance is
needed. A comprehensive scholarship program is available to ensure that each child can
receive an education of his or her choice.
HEROES never forgets or closes the books on a family. They are always available for
counseling or assistance. The telephone number for HEROES, Inc. is (202) 638-2772.
All of the benefit information above has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Contact the National Office of Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. for additional information, or to support any of COPS' programs.
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Web site copyrighted © 2005 by Lydia Warner Miller