State Unemployment Benefits in Virginia
The Virginia Employment Commission administers unemployment insurance. Under 16VAC5-60-30, if a claimant met the eligibility requirements before dying, the check for all benefits due is payable to the decedent's estate upon proof of the claimant's death.
Administering agency
Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)
Authority
16VAC5-60-30; Va. Code § 60.2-633
State Unemployment Benefits in Virginia: key facts
- Administering agency
- Virginia Employment Commission (VEC), Unemployment Insurance program.
- Customer service
- Customer Contact Center 866-832-2363, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed weekends and state holidays). Claim status: 800-897-5630.
- Virginia Relay (deaf, hard of hearing, or speech disabled)
- Dial 711 or 800-828-1140.
- Who may claim
- Under 16VAC5-60-30, if the claimant met the eligibility requirements of the Act before death, then upon proof of the claimant's death the check for all benefits due is payable to the decedent's estate — so the executor or court-appointed administrator receives it on the estate's behalf.
- Reporting a death
- VEC publishes no death-specific form or procedure. Report the death through VEC's general routes — the Customer Contact Center at 866-832-2363, or the online Customer Contact Form linked from vec.virginia.gov/contact-us — and ask what proof of death and evidence of authority it requires for the estate to receive the final check.
- Benefits paid in error
- Under Va. Code § 60.2-633, anyone who received benefits to which they were not entitled is liable to repay them to the Commission. Where an overpayment was not caused by fraud, the Commission discharges it from its records immediately upon the death of the claimant.
Governing law: 16VAC5-60-30; Va. Code § 60.2-633
Steps to take when someone dies
- Call the Virginia Employment Commission at 866-832-2363, or use the online Customer Contact Form on vec.virginia.gov, to report the claimant's death.
- Provide proof of the claimant's death, and evidence of your authority over the estate (such as a certificate of qualification as executor), so VEC can issue any benefits due to the decedent's estate under 16VAC5-60-30.
- Ask VEC whether any benefits were paid that the claimant was not entitled to, which are repayable to the Commission under Va. Code § 60.2-633.
Frequently asked questions
Report the death to the Virginia Employment Commission. Under 16VAC5-60-30, if the claimant had met the eligibility requirements of the Act before dying, then upon proof of death the check for all benefits due is payable to the decedent's estate. Benefits the claimant was not entitled to are repayable to the Commission under Va. Code § 60.2-633, though a non-fraud overpayment is discharged from the Commission's records upon the claimant's death.
The decedent's estate. 16VAC5-60-30 provides that the check for all benefits due is payable to the estate, so the executor or court-appointed administrator receives it on the estate's behalf after supplying proof of the claimant's death. VEC publishes no death-specific form — call the Customer Contact Center at 866-832-2363 or use its general online Customer Contact Form.
The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) administers unemployment insurance in Virginia. The customer service line is 866-832-2363.
Sources
Data sourced from State Unemployment Benefits in Virginia primary sources (5 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Virginia Employment Commission (VEC)
Authority
16VAC5-60-30; Va. Code § 60.2-633