Illinois  |  Workers Comp

my ex passed away last april and he had just settled a workers compensation suit. i am being told by the WC people that all the award will go to his current spouse(they were married a year)and that my 15 year old son will get nothing(my ex is the father of my son)there is supposedly a WC law that states that surviving spouse gets the award money. what i dont understand is how that WC law takes presidence over the state and federal law whish i believe states that when someone dies without a will, that all assets should go into probate and be divided between surviving dependants. ex also had no beneficiary on his life insurance policy, so my son did not receive a penny of that either. Thats why this is so important. Can anyone help? There has already been 1 hearing but i got a motion to continue so i could find out all i can. There is no money to hire a lawyer, so i am unfortunatly winging it and trying to find out all i can. Thank you