[Claim for Unpaid Compensation Due Deceased Employee]

A Claims Group decision was appealed by the daughter of a deceased Veterans Administration employee whose claim for the employee's unpaid wages was denied. The daughter filed the claim on behalf of the employee's ex-wife and three children from that marriage; the ex-wife was denied payment because she did not meet any of the beneficiary criteria. Further, although the employee's subsequent common-law marital status was uncertain, the record indicated that the employee had a child from that relationship and that child was a legal beneficiary to an equal share of the unpaid wages together with the employee's three other children. Therefore, GAO held that the daughter's claim to retrieve the employee's unpaid wages for the three children may not be allowed absent evidence which shows that the fourth child is not entitled to a share of the wages. GAO also stated that, if the issue remains unresolved for 3 years, the claim may be presented for reconsideration.