State Unemployment Benefits in North Dakota

State Unemployment Benefits in North Dakota: key facts

Administering agency

Job Service North Dakota, Unemployment Insurance.

Claims Center

(701) 328-4995; staff available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

After a death

Benefits due and payable to a deceased claimant may be paid to the person the bureau finds would effectuate the purposes of the unemployment compensation law (N.D.C.C. 52-06-29).

Receipt discharges the fund

A receipt from the person to whom payment is made fully discharges the fund and the bureau from further liability for those benefits.

Reporting a death

Contact the Claims Center by phone at (701) 328-4995 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time).

Documentation for final payment

The statute leaves the required documentation to the regulations Job Service North Dakota prescribes (N.D.C.C. 52-06-29). Job Service does not publish a deceased-claimant document list; ask the Claims Center what it requires.

Who may claim

The person or persons the bureau finds would effectuate the purposes of the North Dakota unemployment compensation law. The regulations governing that determination need not conform to the statutes on descent and distribution of decedents' estates.

Governing law: N.D.C.C. 52-06-29

Steps to take when someone dies

1. Report the claimant's death to Job Service North Dakota so benefit payments stop.
2. Ask the Claims Center whether a final payment is owed for eligible weeks before death and how it is paid for a deceased claimant.
3. Provide the documentation Job Service North Dakota requests for a deceased claimant's final payment.

Frequently asked questions