How to Receive an Unpaid Pension After a Pensioner’s Death in Ukraine
Ukrainian legislation provides several ways to receive a pension that remained unpaid after a pensioner’s death. One of the most common procedures is connected with inheritance. After the pensioner’s death, the person entitled to inherit may apply to a notary. The notary may then request the necessary information from the Pension Fund of Ukraine concerning the amount of pension that had accrued but remained unpaid.
There are specific rules and deadlines applicable to this procedure. In particular, it is important to distinguish between pension amounts that may be paid to the deceased pensioner’s family members under special pension legislation and pension amounts that become part of the deceased person’s estate. Therefore, after the pensioner’s death, it is advisable to contact a notary within the statutory inheritance period and determine the appropriate procedure for claiming the unpaid pension.
From an inheritance law perspective, an unpaid pension may become part of the deceased pensioner’s estate. Consequently, where the relevant pension amounts are inherited, the general rules of Ukrainian inheritance law apply. It should also be remembered that acceptance of an inheritance concerns the estate as a whole and may include not only property rights but also certain obligations of the deceased within the limits established by law.
An important issue in practice concerns attempts by the Pension Fund of Ukraine to limit the amount of an unpaid pension inherited after the pensioner’s death by applying Part 1 of Article 46 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance”, which provides certain limitations concerning pension payments for past periods. Application of this provision to inherited pension amounts may be disputed because inheritance relations are governed by separate provisions of Ukrainian civil legislation.
In particular, Article 1216 of the Civil Code of Ukraine provides that inheritance is the transfer of rights and obligations (the estate) from a deceased individual (the testator) to other persons (the heirs). According to Article 1217 of the Civil Code of Ukraine, inheritance takes place under a will or by operation of law. Article 1218 provides that the estate includes all rights and obligations belonging to the deceased at the time the inheritance is opened and which did not cease as a result of the person’s death.
Article 1227 of the Civil Code of Ukraine specifically regulates certain payments that belonged to the deceased but were not received during their lifetime. These include wages, pensions, scholarships, alimony, temporary disability benefits, compensation related to injury or other damage to health, and other social payments. Such amounts are transferred to the deceased person’s family members and, in the absence of persons entitled to receive them under the special procedure, may become part of the inheritance.
Therefore, where an unpaid pension is inherited as part of the deceased pensioner’s estate, the application of the limitation contained in Article 46 of the Law of Ukraine “On Compulsory State Pension Insurance” may be challenged. The rules governing the payment of pension amounts for previous periods should not automatically replace or restrict the inheritance rules established by the Civil Code of Ukraine.
It is also important to remember that inheritance proceedings may involve notarial fees and other expenses. If the heir applies to a private notary in Ukraine, the cost of notarial services generally depends on the services provided and the applicable fees agreed with the notary.
