I Work a Dangerous Job. What Does My Family Need If Something Happens to Me?

In 2024, a worker in the United States died from a job-related injury every 104 minutes, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction accounted for more than 1,000 of those deaths. Transportation and warehousing followed with 865. Protective service workers, including first responders, tallied 281 fatalities. These are not abstract statistics. They are the numbers behind real families who were not prepared for what happened, and who had to figure out finances, benefits, and legal decisions in the middle of the worst moment of their lives.

If you work in construction, manufacturing, transportation, the trades, law enforcement, or any job where the risk is real and daily, your family needs a plan that is built for that reality. Here is what that plan looks like.

FREE WEBINAR

5 Things to Know About

Estate Planning

When You Turn Sixty-Five

Save the Date

Friday, Sep 18^th at 2:30pm

The Documents That Give Your Family Legal Authority

When a worker is killed or seriously injured on the job, the family faces two separate problems at the same time. The first is grief. The second is a legal and financial situation that requires immediate decisions from people who have no legal authority to make them unless the right documents are already in place.

A will tells the world what you own and who should receive it. Without one, New Jersey’s intestacy laws decide for you. But a will only takes effect after death. The documents that protect your family while you are alive and incapacitated are different ones entirely.

A durable power of attorney names someone to manage your financial affairs if you are injured and cannot do so yourself. Without it, your spouse or family member may need to go to court to obtain legal authority to pay your bills, manage your accounts, or make financial decisions on your behalf, depending on the circumstances. In a situation where you are in a hospital and your family is trying to keep things running at home, that process adds cost and delay to an already impossible situation.

A healthcare proxy names someone to make medical decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. If you are unable to make your own medical decisions, your designated healthcare agent generally has authority to make healthcare decisions for you in accordance with applicable law and your advance directive, if any. Without a healthcare proxy, those decisions may fall to whoever is present, in whatever order a hospital’s default policy dictates, and your family members may disagree about what you would have wanted.

An advance directive, sometimes called a living will, records your specific wishes about life-sustaining treatment. It answers the questions your family will not be able to ask you if you are unconscious or on a ventilator. It does not make the decision for anyone. It tells the people who love you what you actually wanted, so they do not have to guess under pressure.

These three documents, a durable power of attorney, a healthcare proxy, and an advance directive, are the foundation of a plan for any worker whose job carries real physical risk. They need to be in place before something happens. After is too late.

What Happens to Your Income and Benefits

Workers in dangerous jobs often carry a combination of benefits that their families do not fully understand until they need to use them. Knowing what exists and how to access it matters.

Workers’ compensation. If you are injured or killed on the job, workers’ compensation may provide wage replacement, medical benefits, and death benefits to your dependents. In New Jersey, death benefits under workers’ compensation are paid to the surviving spouse and dependents as a weekly amount, calculated as a percentage of the deceased worker’s average weekly wage, subject to statutory maximums. These benefits are separate from your estate and do not pass through probate. Your family should promptly notify the employer and follow the applicable workers’ compensation claims process. Filing requirements and deadlines are governed by state law, and having the right documentation in order from the start helps.

Life insurance. Employer-provided life insurance and any individual policies you carry pass directly to named beneficiaries outside of probate. Review your beneficiary designations regularly. A policy that still names a former spouse, a deceased parent, or a sibling you have drifted from will pay that person, not your current family, regardless of what your will says. For workers in high-risk jobs, life insurance is one of the most important financial protections available to a family. Make sure the beneficiary designation reflects who you actually want to protect.

Union death benefits and pension survivor benefits. If you are a union member, your plan may provide a lump sum death benefit, survivor pension payments, or both. These benefits are governed by your specific plan documents and are separate from your will and your individual accounts. Contact your union’s benefits office to understand exactly what your survivors are entitled to, and make sure the right beneficiary is named on the plan’s own designation form.

Social Security survivor benefits. If you have worked long enough to be fully insured under Social Security, your surviving spouse and dependent children may be entitled to monthly survivor benefits. A surviving spouse can generally claim benefits as early as age 60, or at any age if they are caring for your child under age 16. Dependent children under 18, or under 19 if still in high school, may also qualify. These benefits are not automatic. Your family will need to apply through the Social Security Administration after your death.

What Happens to Your Tools, Truck, and Equipment

For workers in the trades, construction, or transportation, the tools, vehicle, and equipment are often some of the most valuable things in the estate. They are also the assets most often overlooked in a basic will.

A vehicle titled in your name alone becomes a probate asset. Your family cannot sell it, transfer it, or use it as collateral until the estate is administered. A truck you use for work, a trailer, a specialty vehicle, or a piece of equipment all follow the same rule. If you want a specific person to receive specific tools or equipment, that needs to be stated explicitly in your will. Without that, those assets go through the residuary estate and are distributed however the residuary clause directs.

For workers who own a business, even a small one-person operation, the situation is more complex. Who takes over the jobs you were contracted to complete? Who has authority to bill clients, collect payment, or wind down operations? A business succession plan does not have to be elaborate. It does need to exist. Even a basic instruction letter telling your family what business relationships exist, who the clients are, and where the accounts are held can prevent a chaotic and costly scramble at the worst possible time.

The Letter of Instruction: The Most Practical Thing You Can Leave Behind

A letter of instruction is not a legal document. It does not go through probate. It does not require a notary or witnesses. It is a plain-language document that tells your family where everything is and what to do with it.

For a worker in a dangerous job, a letter of instruction might include the location of your will, your insurance policies, and your bank and investment accounts. It might list your employer, your union, your benefits contacts, and any outstanding workers’ compensation claims or medical coverage. It might name your attorney, your accountant, and your financial advisor. It might explain what you want done with your tools, your vehicle, your business relationships, and your personal property.

None of that information is in your will. A will distributes assets. A letter of instruction tells your family how to find them, who to call, and how to begin. For a family facing the sudden death or serious injury of a primary breadwinner, that letter can be the difference between manageable and overwhelming.

Write it, keep it updated, and make sure your spouse or the person you trust most knows where it is.

The One Thing Most Workers Skip That Costs Their Families the Most

The most common gap in estate plans for workers in high-risk jobs is not the will. It is the failure to make sure someone knows what exists and where to find it.

A life insurance policy no one knows about is a policy that never gets claimed. A pension survivor benefit no one applies for is a benefit that goes unpaid. A workers’ compensation claim no one files in time is a claim that may be barred. The documents and designations you put in place only work if the people who survive you know what they are and how to use them.

Sit down with your spouse or your most trusted family member and walk through what you have: your insurance policies, your accounts, your union benefits, your employer contacts, and your legal documents. Do it once a year. Do it after any major life change. That conversation is the plan working the way it is supposed to.

Plan Well. Live Better.

Working a dangerous job does not mean accepting that your family will be unprepared. It means the plan needs to be built before it is needed, because the moment it is needed is not the moment to start building it. At Milvidskiy Law Group, we help New Jersey workers and their families put the right documents in place, make sure the benefits align with the estate plan, and make sure the people they love have legal authority and clear instructions when something goes wrong. Learn more about our estate planning services or explore how we approach wills and probate for the families we serve.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Estate planning and elder law are highly individual. What is right for one family may not be right for another. Workers’ compensation, Social Security, and union benefit rules vary and are subject to change. We encourage you to speak with a qualified attorney to discuss your specific situation.