VA Code 65.2-515(A)(4) Interpretation

In Oil Transport, Inc. v. Jordan, 22 Va. App. 633, 472 S.E.2d 291 (1996), the Court noted that Code 65.2-515(A)(4) provides that "parents in destitute circumstances, provided that there be no total dependents pursuant to other provisions of this section," are "conclusively presumed to be dependents wholly dependent for support upon the deceased employee." A parent with "only the earning potential sufficient to provide no more than a bare existence with no resources to provide against anticipated or inevitable financial emergencies" is deemed "financially vulnerable" and, therefor, destitute for the purposes of Code 65.2-515(A)(4). This status is to be determined by the evidence viewed at the time of the employee's death. Id. at 636, 472 S.E.2d at 292.