820 ILCS 315/4

(820 ILCS 315/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 284)

Sec. 4. Notwithstanding Section 3, no compensation is payable under this Act unless a claim therefor is filed, within the time specified by that Section with the Court of Claims on an application prescribed and furnished by the Attorney General and setting forth:

(a) the name, address and title or designation of the position in which the officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member was serving at the time of his death;

(b) the names and addresses of person or persons designated by the officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member to receive the compensation and, if more than one, the percentage or share to be paid to each such person, or if there has been no such designation, the name and address of the personal representative of the estate of the officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member;

(c) a full, factual account of the circumstances resulting in or the course of events causing the death of the officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, chaplain, State employee, or Armed Forces member; and

(d) such other information as the Court of Claims reasonably requires.

When a claim is filed, the Attorney General shall make an investigation for substantiation of matters set forth in such an application.

For the 2 years immediately following the effective date of this amendatory act of the 96th General Assembly, the Court of Claims shall direct the Comptroller to pay a "Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit" to eligible late claimants who file a claim for the benefit. A claim for a Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit must include all the application materials and documents required for all other claims payable under this Act, except as otherwise provided in this Section 4. For purposes of this Section 4 only, an "eligible late claimant" is a person who would have been eligible, at any time after September 11, 2001, to apply for and receive payment of a claim pursuant to this Act in connection with the death of an Armed Forces member killed in the line of duty or a fireman killed in the line of duty, but did not receive the award payment because:

(1) the claim was rejected only because the claim was not filed within the time limitation set forth in subsection (a) of Section 3 of this Act; or

(2) having met all other preconditions for applying for and receiving the award payment, the claimant did not file a claim because the claim would not have been filed within the time limitation set forth in subsection (a) of Section 3 of this Act. For purposes of this Section 4 only, the "Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit" is an amount of money payable to eligible late claimants equal to the amount set forth in Section 3 of this Act payable to claimants seeking payment of awards under Section 3 of this Act for claims made thereunder in the year in which the claim for the Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit is made. Within 6 months of receiving a complete claim for the Modified-Eligibility Line of Duty Benefit, the Court of Claims must direct the Comptroller to pay the benefit amount to the eligible late claimant.

(Source: P.A. 96-539, eff. 1-1-10; 96-923, eff. 1-1-11.)