[Request for Reconsideration of Claim for Unpaid Compensation]

An individual requested reconsideration of a decision which denied her claim for her deceased father's unpaid compensation. The requester had filed the claim on behalf of herself, her sister, and her brother. GAO had initially denied the claim because the record showed that they were not the direct legal beneficiaries of the compensation, but that the employee's widow was entitled to the payment. Regulations provide that, if a beneficiary does not claim the unpaid compensation of a deceased employee within 3 years of the employee's death, payment is to be made to the next eligible beneficiary or beneficiaries in the same class. GAO held that, since the widow had not filed for the unpaid amount within that time, the children had become eligible to receive the payment. Accordingly, payment may be made in equal shares to the children of the deceased.