CFR > Title 20 - Employees' Benefits > CHAPTER VI—OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR > SUBCHAPTER B—FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, AS AMENDED (parts 718 to 726) > PART 725—CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS UNDER PART C OF TITLE IV OF THE FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT, AS AMENDED > SUBPART B—Persons Entitled to Benefits, Conditions, and Duration of Entitlement (§725.201 to §725.233) > 725.212—Conditions of entitlement; surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse.

725.212—Conditions of entitlement; surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse.

(a) An individual who is the surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse of a miner is eligible for benefits if such individual:
(1) Is not married;
(2) Was dependent on the miner at the pertinent time; and
(3) The deceased miner either:
(i) Was receiving benefits under section 415 or part C of title IV of the Act at the time of death as a result of a claim filed prior to January 1, 1982; or
(ii) Is determined as a result of a claim filed prior to January 1, 1982, to have been totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis at the time of death or to have died due to pneumoconiosis. A surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse of a miner whose claim is filed on or after January 1, 1982, must establish that the deceased miner's death was due to pneumoconiosis in order to establish entitlement to benefits, except where entitlement is established under § 718.306 of part 718 on a claim filed prior to June 30, 1982.
(b) If more than one spouse meets the conditions of entitlement prescribed in paragraph (a), then each spouse will be considered a beneficiary for purposes of section 412(a)(2) of the Act without regard to the existence of any other entitled spouse or spouses.