§ 25-B — Awards to non-residents: Non-resident compensation fund

§ 25-b. Awards to non-residents: Non-resident compensation fund. 1.\nThere is hereby created a fund to be known as the non-resident\ncompensation fund. Whenever an award is made to or on behalf of\nnoncitizen dependents, non-residents of the United States, Canada or\nNewfoundland, or an award is made to a non-resident citizen of the\nUnited States, which calls for the payment of compensation or death\nbenefits, or where there is outstanding an unpaid balance of\ncompensation or death benefits payable to such non-resident, and it\nshall appear that the person or persons to whom the award has been made\nor any balance of such award is payable, would not have the full benefit\nor use or control of the money payable under such award, or where other\nspecial circumstances made it desirable that present payment of the\naward shall be withheld, the employer, or if insured, his insurance\ncarrier, or any special fund liable for such payment, may, by order of\nthe board, be required to pay to the comptroller of the state of New\nYork all amounts then due or thereafter to become due under the terms of\nthe award to such non-resident. The moneys so paid in shall be held by\nthe comptroller in the non-residents compensation fund.\n 2. All computations for the commutation of any such award for payment\ninto the said fund shall be made in accordance with the tables specified\nin section twenty-seven of this chapter.\n 3. The payment of the amount of any such award into the non-resident\ncompensation fund shall constitute a complete discharge of the employer\nor insurance carrier from all liability for such award.\n 4. If at any time there shall be created by any act of the congress of\nthe United States or by any lawful rule or regulation of the president\nany agency or fund for the safekeeping or custody of moneys belonging to\nor payable to any non-resident noncitizen, and if such act or rule shall\nrequire the payment into such agency or fund of any moneys theretofore\npaid into the fund for foreign dependents, the board may make its\nfindings and issue its order thereon directing the transfer of such\nmoneys by the comptroller to such other agency or fund.\n 5. Any moneys so paid into such fund shall be held by the comptroller\nuntil the further order of the board. Whenever the board shall find that\nthe reasons and conditions which made it desirable that payment into the\nfund be made have changed and that the cause for such withholding shall\nno longer exist, the board may make findings and issue its order thereon\ndirecting the payment without interest of the whole or any part thereof\nthen due by the comptroller to the person or persons for whose benefit\nthe award was made.\n 6. If the board, at any time, upon evidence presented to it, shall\nfind that all or any part of the funds so deposited in such fund are not\ndue and payable to the non-resident for whose benefit they were\ndeposited, it shall direct the repayment of such amount so deposited,\nwithout interest, by the comptroller to the party required to make the\ndeposit as aforesaid.\n 7. If no evidence shall be presented to the board of the present\nexistence of any such non-resident within eight years from the date when\nthe board has found that the precedent conditions set forth in paragraph\none hereof have changed and that direct payments could be made to such\nperson or persons if such person or persons are alive, it shall be\npresumed in the absence of substantial evidence to the contrary, that\nsuch person or persons are non-existent and the board shall thereupon\norder the payment without interest of the amount deposited for the\nbenefit of such person or persons to the party required to make such\ndeposit as aforesaid, provided however, that thereafter such employer,\ncarrier or fund receiving such repayment shall continue to be liable for\nany compensation subsequently found by the board to be due,\nnotwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter.\n