Documents for applying for survivor benefits

Citizens entitled to receive a pension

Depending on the type of survivor's pension, the following categories and types of persons applying for such a pension are usually distinguished.

• Persons entitled to social pension due to loss of a breadwinner.
• Disabled family members of the deceased breadwinner - the insured, who were his financial dependents, are entitled to a full insurance pension for the loss of a breadwinner.

Note. Other family members include the persons specified in paragraph 2, part 2, article 10 of Law No. 400-FZ.

Types of pensions to receive

A person who, for certain reasons, has lost the only breadwinner in his family can count on receiving a pension. It is important to pay attention and clarify what types of payments exist at a given time:

• A labor (insurance) pension is accrued if the deceased had work experience;
• Social is established when the deceased has no work experience, if the person died due to criminal actions;
• State or military is assigned to family members of a certain category of people, these include military personnel, astronauts, and people who suffered in man-made disasters.

You can read how to receive an old-age and disability pension in other articles on our website.

List of documents on the loss of a breadwinner

So, what documents may be required to apply for a pension?

• Confirmation of the death of the breadwinner and his unknown absence - court decision and certificate;
• Identity card of the applicant and his representative (passport for Russian citizens, as well as residence permit for citizens of other countries);
• Papers that directly prove relationship with the deceased (these are birth certificates or marriage certificates);
• Work book and other documents (if not available) confirming the work experience of the deceased (pay books, certificates of average salary, extracts, military ID, etc.);

For children under 18 years of age, there is no need to confirm their disability; they themselves are recognized as such by law;

What other documents are required for a survivor's pension? Additional documents (very often depending on the circumstances of the death of the deceased breadwinner) are needed:

• Certificate of disability and document of death of the 2nd parent, certificate of income (family members) to confirm their dependent status;
• Confirmation that the deceased or deceased was a single mother;
• Certificates of training; details for transferring money and other documents.

What list of necessary documents is needed to process payments?

To receive a survivor's pension you need 2 packages of documents:

• The main one, which is provided in the general case.
• Additional – confirming certain circumstances.

So, the list for registration of the general package includes the following documents :

1. Statement.
2. Passport or residence permit.
3. Certificate of death of the breadwinner or a court decision that he is missing.
4. Documentary proof of relationship (birth certificate, adoption certificate, marriage certificate, etc.).
5. Certificate from the place of study (for adult children).

If the necessary documents are in the pension file, then there is no need to provide them.

To assign a certain type of pension (social, state or insurance), additions to the above list are needed.

For example, what documents are needed to apply for an insurance pension, as well as for children :

• OPS certificate.
• Confirmation of insurance experience: work book or contract, certificates or extract from the order, military ID and others.
• Average earnings (certificate, pay book, copy of personal account).
• Confirmation of dependency (certificate of family composition, certificate of income).

IMPORTANT! This type of payment is accrued provided that the deceased had at least 1 day of insurance coverage.

A social pension is accrued if the breadwinner did not work anywhere or died due to illegal actions.

To register it, submit to the Pension Fund:

• Conclusion that the deceased committed a criminal offense or caused damage to his health. This document is issued by the federal medical and social examination.
• Certificate from housing and communal services.
• Labor.

Where to submit?

How can I get survivor benefits? Before submitting documents, it is also important to check them in advance for compliance with existing standards.

In order for you to receive benefits from the state, you should contact the pension fund. First, you need to take a sample application, filling it out in accordance with the accepted rules. The content of the application requires entering information about the person who is applying for a survivor's pension.

What list of documents should I provide and what should I have with me?

1. A passport proving identity, registration or a special certificate of registration of a citizen.
2. You will also need documentation proving the death of the breadwinner, that is, you need a certificate and documentation that will confirm the work experience of the family breadwinner.
3. It is important to present documents related to the breadwinner, for example, you need a death certificate, a divorce decree.
4. In different situations, the institution may require other minor documents in order to process such a pension for the loss of a breadwinner.

Assignment of an insurance pension for the loss of a breadwinner

The benefit is accrued from the moment of application, not earlier than the day from which the right to receive it arose. If a person applies for compensation within a year, it is assigned from the date of death of the breadwinner. If the period exceeds this threshold, then payments are made for the last 12 months before the date of application. All family members who are dependent on the deceased person can count on compensation if the fact of dependency is proven. Insurance benefits will accrue until the dependent is able to work, and then stop. In some cases, such compensation is awarded indefinitely.

Where to apply

The Pension Fund is responsible for calculating pensions in the event of the loss of a breadwinner. To process payments, you need to contact the Pension Fund at the place of registration, write an application, indicate in it the details of the deceased, dependents, and the bank account where the money will be transferred. You can make a postal transfer of the application, notarize it, or send it to the Pension Fund website.

Documentation

When applying for pension payments, you must submit an application and a package of documents. It includes:

• statement;
• original passport for Russian citizens, for foreigners - residence permit;
• individual personal account insurance number (SNILS);
• death certificate of the breadwinner (issued by the registry office) or a court decision declaring a person missing;
• a document confirming the fact of relationship (birth certificate, adoption certificate, marriage certificate);
• documents showing the length of work experience of the breadwinner (work book or agreement on concluding labor relations. They must contain the date, issue number, full name of the employee, birthday, name of the organization, duration of work, position held, personal accounts, orders, etc.).

Additional documents

Depending on the circumstances, PF employees may request other certificates to apply for a survivor’s pension. For example,

• about the average earnings of the breadwinner (issued at the place of work, government agencies, archives);
• about the incapacity of family members (disability, low or no earnings, being retired, etc.);
• about caring for a relative of the deceased who has not reached 14 years of age;
• about loss of earnings;
• about full-time study.

In addition, you may need documents confirming the identity of the trustee, adoptive parent, guardian and other certificates upon request from the Pension Fund. If the Pension Fund considers that not the entire package of documentation has been collected, its employees will explain what is missing. The missing papers will need to be submitted within 3 months, thus maintaining the original date of receipt of the application.

Documents for applying for a survivor's pension

In the event of the death of a person who was a breadwinner for others, they will be entitled to receive monthly payments in the form of a pension. This measure is aimed at protecting people with disabilities. In this material we will tell you what papers are needed to process survivor benefits, where to apply for them, and when you need a lawyer on pension issues.

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On what grounds can a pension payment be assigned?

The concept of “loss of a breadwinner” does not only mean death. This includes disappearance and declaring a person dead. Thus, the state provides for disabled persons who do not receive any financial assistance from the missing breadwinner unless the fact of death is proven.

Only those citizens who are family members of the deceased can receive payments. This category is defined by Article 10 of the Law “On Insurance Pensions”, it is:

• natural and officially adopted children of the breadwinner;
• disabled legal spouses or those caring for children, brothers, sisters or grandchildren of the deceased under 14 years of age;
• disabled parents;
• siblings or half-brothers/sisters, disabled grandchildren, if their parents are also disabled.

Grandparents can also apply for payment if they are caring for disabled relatives of the breadwinner.

In any case, cash payments are accrued only on the basis of documents provided to the Pension Fund.

If you need the help of a qualified lawyer, then call us for an initial consultation:

What documents will be needed to process payments?

Payments based on the loss of a breadwinner can only be accrued upon filing an application. You will need to submit other documents along with your application. The basic package includes:

• the applicant's passport or birth certificate;
• ID card of the legal representative of a person under 14 years of age;
• SNILS of the applicant, the person representing him and the deceased breadwinner;
• documents confirming the death or disappearance of the breadwinner. This may be a death certificate or a court decision that declared the person missing or dead;
• papers confirming relationship. Certificate of marriage, change of first or last name, adoption.

In addition, you may need other documents. So, in order to be assigned a survivor pension, in addition to the above listed papers, you will need to add:

• data on the breadwinner’s length of service, this is a work book and other documents confirming periods of work;
• data on non-insurance periods.

The exact list of documents depends on which non-insurance periods the breadwinner had. Let’s say a person was registered with the employment service, such data should be transferred to the Pension Fund. For non-insurance periods, points are awarded that affect the amount of payment.

It is worth noting that when applying for a social pension, you will not need to submit documents on length of service and non-insurance periods.

If you need the help of a qualified lawyer, then call us for an initial consultation:

Additional papers

Sometimes a number of other documents may be required. Often these are certificates confirming the applicant’s non-involvement in the disappearance of the breadwinner. If a citizen caused death through actions or inaction, then he cannot count on receiving payments.

Also, the Pension Fund may require a certificate from an educational institution if the person is an adult, but is not yet 23 years old and is studying at an educational institution. Moreover, a university can be not only Russian, but also foreign.

The following documents may also be required:

• certificate of family composition;
• a certificate from the social security authorities, if the deceased or missing breadwinner was the legal guardian of the child;
• certificate of incapacity for work for citizens who are able to work, but do not work for some reason, for example, due to caring for a child or a disabled person.

In order not to go to the Pension Fund several times, it is better to immediately deal with the documents. The easiest way is to contact a pension lawyer. After familiarizing yourself with the situation, the specialist will make a list of all the papers.

Situation. Citizen Yu contacted a lawyer. He was interested in whether he had the right to receive a survivor's pension if he had a disability. His wife did not live to see retirement for 2 years. And if he has the right to payments, then how to arrange them. The lawyer advised to contact the Pension Fund and provide your and your deceased spouse’s passport and SNILS, marriage certificate, death document and documents about your wife’s length of service.

Where to submit papers

Since the Pension Fund is in charge of assigning pensions, it is to this body that all papers must be submitted. Contact may occur:

• in person at the Pension Fund at your place of residence;
• in person to the nearest multifunctional center;
• by mail, sent the application and attached papers by certified registered mail along with an inventory and notification.

The appeal must be considered within 10 working days.

Where to apply

The procedure and place for filing an application are regulated by Administrative Regulation No. 14n, adopted by the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation in 2021.

• An application with the necessary papers is submitted to the local branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation at the applicant’s residence address (permanent registration).
• If there is no permanent registration, then the documents are submitted at the applicant’s place of residence (Article 81 of the Administrative Regulations).
• If the place of residence cannot be confirmed, then the application is submitted at the actual location of the applicant.

If the application is submitted by a representative on behalf of minor children or incapacitated citizens, then the papers are sent to the place of permanent registration of the representative. In case of separation of parents, the application is submitted according to the registration of the parent with whom the child lives.

Family members of military personnel first contact the military commissariat at the place of service of the deceased or the military registration and enlistment office at the place of registration to receive a certificate certifying the fact of service and death of the military man. After receiving the certificate, the package of documents is sent to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation.

What documents will be needed for registration?

If you are convinced that you are entitled to a government payment, you need to write a corresponding application (it is drawn up on five pages, we will give an example of only the first two).

@ https://www.pfrf.ru/

Next, you need to prepare the following documents:

• identification document (passport or residence permit);
• death certificate of the breadwinner or a court decision when declaring him missing;
• documents confirming the fact of the applicant’s relationship with the breadwinner (birth certificate, adoption certificate, marriage certificate or others);
• work record book of the deceased (in some cases this is a military ID, as well as orders, extracts, pay books from the place of work);
• personal account details for transferring the assigned pension.

It should be taken into account that when contacting the relevant authorities, additional certificates may be needed, for example, the applicant’s certificate of disability, income, education, family composition, incapacity for work, and others.