Michigan Court of Appeals; Docket No. 78-512; Published
Judge Beasley, Holbrook, and Cook; ______________
Official Michigan Reporter Citation: 88 Mich App 175; Link to Opinion 
STATUTORY INDEXING:
Calculation of Survivor’s Loss Benefits and Maximums [§3108(1)]
Standards for Deductibility of State and Federal Governmental Benefits [§3109(1)]
Social Security Survivor’s Benefits [§3109(1)]
TOPICAL INDEXING:
Legislative Purpose and Intent
CASE SUMMARY:
This Court of Appeals decision dealt with three issues relating to survivors' loss benefits under §3108 of the no-fault statute. The Court held as follows:
1. That pursuant to the Court of Appeals decision in O'Donnell survivors' loss benefits may not be reduced by Social Security benefits as provided in §3109(1) as that section has been declared unconstitutional. This aspect of the decision has obviously been mooted by the Supreme Court's decision to the contrary which reversed the Court of Appeals decision in O'Donnell (see item number 142).
2. That survivors' loss benefits under §3108 may not be reduced by the amount the decedent would have paid in taxes. The Court noted that §3107(b) of the no-fault statute permitted taxes to be offset from wage benefits but the absence of such statutory treatment with regard to survivors' loss benefits under §3108 indicated that the Legislature did not intend survivors' loss benefits to be reduced by taxes.
3. Survivors' loss benefits under §3108 could be reduced by an amount equal to those sums which would have been diverted to the decedent's personal consumption. The Court examined the legislative history regarding this section and noted the dissimilarity with the language of §3107(b) and reasoned that the Legislature intended survivors' loss benefits to be less than a decedent's entire gross income. The Court remanded the case back to the Circuit Court for a determination of the proper amount, if any, to be deducted from the survivors' loss benefits.
