A000269
Monday, December 03, 2001 9:49 AM
Comments on the Department of Justice?s Rulemaking Regar ding
the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001
We urge the Department to include among relatives eligible for compensation those who lost their life partners or de facto parents or children, regardless of sexual orientation and marital status.
The federal Fund should likewise vest in the personal representative the duty to act as fiduciary on behalf of all those who consider themselves to be survivors, seeking compensation in proportion to their losses and distributing the awards accordingly.
Those eligible for compensation as a survivor of a deceased victim should include individuals who can show that they had (1) a family relationship of mutual interdependence with the victim, including as a de facto parent or child, and (2) suffered losses of the sort identified in the Act at §§402(5) and (7). Where the individual does not share a blood or legal tie with the victim,1 mutual interdependence is shown if the claimant shared a residence with the victim and was emotionally and financially intertwined in a familial relationship.
Individual Comment
Atlanta, GA