When my sister died, one of the questions that popped into my mind was: What happens to the pension that my sister was looking forward to upon retirement, in the event of her death while still an active, duly employed SSS member?
I found out that the Social Security System of the Philippines is duly mandated by law (R.A. No. 8282) to provide the qualified beneficiary (or beneficiaries) Death Benefits as specified under Section 13 of the aforementioned Social Security Law.
The Death Benefit of the SSS is given to the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) of the deceased member either in the form or a monthly cash pension or a lump sum cash amount.
Monthly Cash Pension
A monthly cash pension is given to the surviving beneficiary (or beneficiaries) if the member was able to pay 36 straight monthly contributions before the semester of death.
Lump Sum
If the deceased member paid less than 36 straight monthly contributions to the fund, a lump sum cash amount is given to the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries). A lump sum cash amount is also given to the identified secondary beneficiaries in the absence of qualified primary beneficiaries of the deceased member.
Who are qualified to receive the Death Benefit of the deceased SSS member?
The Death Benefit is given to the following beneficiary (or beneficiaries) in order of preferential hierarchy listed below:
- Primary beneficiary/beneficiaries identified to be:
- The legitimate, dependent spouse for so long as he/she does not remarry, and
- Dependent legitimate, legitimated, illegitimate, adopted children of the deceased member who are below 21 years of age, and/or
- Dependent legitimate, legitimated, illegitimate, adopted children of the deceased member who are over 21 years of age but are incapacitated or unable to support themselves due to physical or mental disability that is congenital in nature or was acquired while they were still minors.
- In the absence of any qualified primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries), the dependent parents of the deceased member can receive the Death Benefit. They are considered to be secondary beneficiaries.
- In the absence of a dependent parent, any other person duly nominated as the designated beneficiary by the diseased member in his/her SSS record will be considered as the beneficiary.
- In the absence of any designated beneficiary, the Death Benefit will be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased member as identified with the law of succession under the Family Code of the Philippines.
How much will the beneficiary receive? (Computation)
After identifying who were qualified to receive the death benefit, the next question that came to mind is: What is the cash benefit amount that the beneficiary (or beneficiaries) will receive?
As mentioned in the SSS Guidebook on Death, the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) will receive a monthly pension that has the highest amount of either:
- P300 + 20%(Average Monthly Salary Credit, AMSC) + 2%(AMSC x [Credited Years of Service, CYS, – 10]); or
- 40% (AMSC); or
- P1000 for members with less than 10 CYS; P1200 for members with at least 10 CYS; or P2,400 if the member had at least 20 CYS.
The lump sum amount given to the primary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) for deceased members who contributed less than 36 months is either:
- Monthly Pension x Number of monthly contributions paid prior to semester of death; or
- 12 x Monthly Pension; whichever is the higher amount.
Depending on how many contributions the deceased member has made to the SSS, the lump sum amount given to the secondary beneficiary (or beneficiaries) is either:
- 36 x Monthly Pension, for members who had paid 36 months or more before the semester of death; or
- for deceased members who have made contributions to the SSS for less than 36 months, the higher amount of:
- Monthly Pension x No. of Monthly Contributions paid; or
- 12 x Monthly pension
Who gets my sister’s SSS Death Benefits?
In the case of my sister, she had been gainfully employed for the past 30 years or so, since college graduation. This then qualifies her beneficiaries to receive either a monthly pension if she is survived by a primary beneficiary, or a lump sum amount if she does not have any qualified primary beneficiary and has a dependent parent still alive who is then identified to be a secondary beneficiary.
Her marriage was legally annulled and is survived by her only child, a 27-year-old son who is likewise gainfully employed, and our 81-year-old mother.
When claiming for the Death Benefit, the SSS officer advised us that my mother was identified to receive the SSS Death Benefit due my sister as the secondary beneficiary in the absence of any qualified primary beneficiary identified.
After all the required documents were filed and duly processed, my mom received in the mail a check that represented the lump sum amount of the SSS Death Benefit earned by my sister when she was an active SSS member, less than the prescribed 8 week waiting period advised by the SSS officer.
And because my sister had been an active SSS member for more than 30 years, her death benefit was computed based on the (36xMonthly Pension) formula.
My husband abondoned us already and remarry.Our daughter is 24years old gainfully employed. in case of my death is my daughter can claim my pension instead of my husband who already abandoned us and living with other woman?
If the husband remarry but with 11 yrs old daughter,can daughter receieves the same amount of a husband pension?
My grandfather was already dead and his 3 beneficiary was also deceased (2 brother and 1 niece). Can his spouse or children can claim his death beneficiary? My grand father contributed less than 10 years.
my mother was an sss total disability pensioner for more than 5 years, is her beneficiary still entitle for a death benefit?
kamamatay lang po ng sister ko tapos mag one year pa lang sya mula ng mag retire sya…dalaga pa po sya ..magkano po ba ang makukuha nya sa kanyang SSS at DOLE? 1982 cya nagsimula mag work tapos nag retire cya april 2017….
try nyo na lang mo mag-file ng death benefit claims sa sss para masagot po nila ung inquiries nyo at para malaman nyo din ung estimate pension amount na mkukuha ng beneficiaries nya.
May tanong po ako. Yung mama ko po namatay nung June 15, 2017. Anak po ako sa pangalawang asawa, at hiwalay na po sila nung first husband niya for more than 30 years. Ngayon po sinasabi nila na hindi daw po pwede makuha yung lump sum kasi dapat e pension yun dun sa first husband niya which is wala po siyang na contribute kahit piso dun sa SSS ni mama. Wala po bang aksyon na pwedeng gawin pag ganito na sitwasyon?
I have question po.
Namatay po si father nung 1998 and now lang po namin nalaman 2018 na hindi po pla legally married ng mother ko sa father ko pero nagpa church wedding po sila nung 1992 at nalaman po nmin n hindi po pla nka register un kc kasal na po pla si father sa first wife nya at now po nmin nalaman n hindi po kami ang beneficiary nya sa sss.may chance po ba ako na maclaim ang burial benefits ni father as legitimate daugther po ako ni papa sa second wife nya which is my mother.thanks and god bless
yes po. just file it online using your own sss account provide the necessary documents/receipts of funeral expenses.
Namatay po ang father ko last month,senior citizen po sya,member po ako ng sss,,may financial assistance,. po b akong makukuha s sss?
try nyo po mag-inquire at mag-file sa sss office mismo para ma-verify po nila kung qualified kayo to receive your father’s pension.
May question po ako. Namatay po ang tita ko pero hindi pa nafile sa SSS ng 2 taon. Binigay ng tita ko sa anak nya ang atm nya bago mamatay. Hindi alam ng anak nya na patay na nanay nya dahil no contact na kami sa kanya nuon. Ngayon nakontak na namin sya after 2 yrs at nasabi sa kanya na namatay si tita. Nag-aalala kami na baka makasuhan sya kasi nawithdraw nya pa din ang pension kahit na patay na nanay nya. Pwede po ba nya ideposit na lang ulit ang amount na nawithdraw na nya?
may makukuha po bang death claim ang tatay ko na pensioner for almost 6years lima po kaming magkakapatid at lahat ay may asawa na pero patay napo ang aming nanay at ang tatay at nanay ng aking ama ay patay nadin. sa ngayon po ay pinaprocess na ang kanyang burial benefits.May makukuha papo ba kaming death claim para sa kanya? thanks in advance!
tanong ko lang po. ako po ay pwd. bago lang namatay ang nanay k. yong doon sa files ng sss ako po ay beneficiary habang buhay. kung sakali nakapag pa member ako sa sss as self employed, ibig sabihin ba na hindi na ako mag qualify as beneficiary sa death claim ng nanay ko? ung papa ko ang nauna namatay. kasunod ang nanay ko. sa sss details niya nakalagay doon ang name ko as benefiary.
When a survivor pensioner dies – the spouse of a departed SSS member, do children of the survivor pensioner get a death benefit? The father was the SSS member and when he died, the mother received a monthly pension. This time, the mother also died. Will the children also receive a death benefit? Thank you.
namatay po ang pinsan nung july 14, hiwalay po siya sa leagal wife nia may 2 anak po siya sa legal pero of age na, mayroon po siya common law partner for 22 yrs at may 3 po siyang anak sa common law partner nia mga minor po, ang tanong q po kung si common law partner po ba ay magpepension din, kailangan pa po ba ang joint affidavit of two nearest relatives of member who can attest to the marital relationship of member, bilang additional requirement for the common law prtner
My uncle died in Dec. of 2022 and now my Aunt wants to know how she can file for his death benefit. They are now US Citizens and my Uncled died here in the US. Prior to them migrating here, my Uncle used to work in the Philippines and I have old documents from our old house (tax documents back in 1975) to prove he worked then. What will be the process and documents she needed to prepare in order to file for the benefit/s? Thank you.