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Banegas v. State Industrial Insurance System3/16/2001
strued to give meaning to all of their parts and language within the context of the purpose of the legislation. See Bd. of County Comm'rs v. CMC of Nevada, 99 Nev. 739, 744, 670 P.2d 102, 105 (1983). In NRS 616C.505(8), the phrase "in all other cases" appears in an introductory sentence immediately preceding NRS 616C.505(8)(a), which provides that the extent of the dependency is determined as of the date of injury. NRS 616C.070(2) provides that questions as to who constitutes a dependent and the extent of the dependency is determined as of the date of injury, and NRS 616C.505(13) provides that a "surviving spouse" is either a husband or wife who was married to the employee at the date of death. When NRS 616C.505(8)(a) is considered together with NRS 616C.070(2) and NRS 616C.505(13), it appears that subsection 8(a) merely specifies the date total or partial dependency is determined. Additionally, when subsection 8(a) is read in conjunction with subsections 8(b)-(c), which relate only to partial dependency, the reasonable interpretation is that subsection (8) as a whole relates only to partial dependency.
The title of a statute may also be considered in determining legislative intent. See A Minor v. Clark Co. Juvenile Ct. Servs., 87 Nev. 544, 548, 490 P.2d 1248, 1250 (1971). Former versions of NRS 616C.505, including subsection 8, contained titles which offer some insight into the legislative intent. For example, the 1947 version of subsection 8 (subsection 7 in 1947) bears the title "Partial dependency" and provides, in part:
"(7) In all other cases, questions of total or partial dependency shall be determined in accordance with the facts as the facts may be at the time of the injury. . . ." See 1947 Nev. Stat., ch. 168, § 59, at 587.
Additionally, the 1967 version of NRS 616C.505(8) bears the title "Questions of total or partial dependency." See 1967 Nev. Stat., ch. 221, § 1, at 687. The language of subsection 7 remained the same as the 1947 version. See 1967 Nev. Stat., ch. 221, § 1, at 687. In 1991, the title "Questions of total or partial dependency" was removed, the section was recodified as subsection 8 instead of subsection 7, and the word "involving" was added to the text of subsection 8. See 1991 Nev. Stat., ch. 307, § 2, at 806. The 1991 amendment reflects the current version of this subsection. See NRS 616C.505(8)(a).
A title is typically prefixed to a statute or a subsection in the form of a descriptive heading or a brief summary of the contents of the statute or subsection. See Random House Webster's College Dictionary 1350 (2d ed. 1997); Black's Law Dictionary 1032 (6th ed. 1991). Given this definition, the titles previously utilized by the Legislature to describe prior versions of subsection 8, and the context in which the phrase "in all other cases" is used, we cannot interpret subsection 8 so broadly as to provide a catchall category for factual dependents regardless of any legally recognized relationship to the deceased employee. The titles attached to former versions of NRS 616C.505 and its subsections suggest that the Legislature intended the phrase "in all other cases" in subsection 8(a) to mean all cases where a question of fact exists concerning the extent of the dependency among the class of beneficiaries specified within the chapter. Additionally, the replacement in 1991 of the title "Questions of total or partial dependency" with the word "involving" immediately following the phrase "in all other cases" within subsection 8(a) does not suggest that the Legislature intended to broaden the application of subsection 8 by removing the title. Instead, the Legislature made minor technical changes to NRS 616C.505 (cf. NRS 616.615) that year, including rem
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