The Court of Appeals of Texas, 13th District has ruled that a woman engaged to be married to a man killed on the job in 2016 is not entitled to death benefits, reversing earlier rulings granting her benefits as a fianceé. The case is Tex. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ochoa, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 4252.
Nathan Fryday was killed in a work-related accident in August 2016. Texas Mutual Insurance Company (TMIC) was the workers' compensation insurer for Fryday's employer. Following his death Fryday's parents and his fiance, Lacey Ochoa sought workers' compensation death benefits from TMIC.
The lower court found that Ochoa was Fryday's informal spouse, which TMIC disputed, the Division of Workers Compensation (DWC) awarded her death benefits. TMIC sought to have the decision appealed by the DWC appeals panel, which determined that the original decision was correct. TMIC appealed and, in response, a trial court stated that Ochoa was entitled to summary judgment, awarding death benefits in line with the decision of the DWC.
The appeals court reversed, finding that evidence that TMIC presented "that Ochoa and Fryday were engaged in March of 2016 and agreed to be married at some point in the future with no date yet set, is evidence that they were not presently married at the time of Fryday's death. An agreement to be married at some point in the future will not suffice."
Editor's Note: According to the case brief filed, the couple had been living together since 2013 and in their minds, considered themselves to be "married" at the point when they moved in together. Unfortunately, the two never signed a single document that showed that they held themselves out to be married, such as a joint bank account. They each listed themselves as "single" on employment and federal documents and had only been engaged for one month prior to his death. In order to have been considered "informally married" the couple would have had to purport themselves as actually married in more than just mindset.