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.
