Mary Huckabaa Nov 3, 2016 a 7:58 am PDT

What is supposed to happen, when aoe/coe is denied, is a petition to join PERS per LC4708, a trial on aoe/coe, with an issue raised of entitlement to WC benefits under 4707 noted above.

4707. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no benefits, except reasonable expenses of burial not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), shall be awarded under this division on account of the death of an employee who is an active member of the Public
Employees' Retirement System unless it is determined that a special death benefit, as defined in the Public Employees' Retirement Law, or the benefit provided in lieu of the special death benefit in Sections 21547 and 21548 of the Government Code, will not be paid by
the Public Employees' Retirement System to the surviving spouse....

So, the APPLICANT did have the burden to prove a PERS Special Death benefit would NOT be paid, before being entitled to WC death benefits. To do that, it's his/her interest to file the Petition for Joinder.