The “no dependents” penalty of the Death on the High Seas Act

The IRS “marriage penalty” may be reinstated next year. Well, under antiquated maritime laws, there’s a “no dependents” penalty which places less value on the life of an unmarried and childless person killed at sea than on a person with dependents. The Death on the High Seas Act (1920) says that if a mariner is killed on international waters (more than 3 miles offshore) his or her dependents may receive monetary damages for  the wages that the decedent would have provided minus taxes (and own self) during their working lifetime. But if the victim had no widow or children, his parents would get nothing except a thousand dollars for funeral expenses, if a body is recovered. S. 3600—The Fairness in Admiralty and Maritime Law Act—is in committee awaiting a Senate vote. This bill, if passed, would overturn this law and entitle victims’ families to receive compensation for grieving and the loss of a loved one.