A funeral grant is a benefit from ZUS or KRUS for the family of the deceased. The funeral grant is a partial reimbursement of funeral costs. For several years, the right to unemployment benefit has remained unchanged. How much is the funeral grant and how do I get it?

Contents:

  1. Funeral grant: who is en titled to?
  2. Funeral grant: who can get it?
  3. Funeral grant: how much is it?
  4. Funeral grant: who pays it?

A funeral grant is a one-time financial support to which the deceased's family is en titled, as well as the person or institution that took over the organization of the funeral. The right to an allowance is defined in the provisions of the Pensions and Disability Pensions Act (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1270).

Funeral grant: who is en titled to?

Pursuant to this law, a funeral grant may be paid if the deceased was:

  • insured;
  • received a pension (or did not receive it, but met the conditions for obtaining it);
  • was a family member of a person who is insured or receives a pension (a family member is considered to be a spouse, parents, children - including adopted ones, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, persons for whom legal guardianship has been established, etc. ).

It is good to know that the funeral allowance is also payable after the end of insurance or if the death occurred during the period of receiving sickness benefit, rehabilitation benefit or maternity benefit.

It is also important that the funeral allowance may be granted only for one title, i.e. it cannot be collected twice: e.g. for the insurance of the deceased person and for the insurance of their family member.

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Funeral grant: who can get it?

A one-time benefit in the form of a funeral grant may be granted to the person who covered the burial costs - most often it is someone from the family of the deceased or someone of his friends. If the employer, social welfare home, religious association or commune paid for the funeral, then the allowancegoes to a given entity. If the costs were shared, the benefit can be shared (in proportion to the expenses incurred) between the persons or institutions paying for the funeral.

Funeral grant: how much is it?

The funeral allowance currently amounts to PLN 4,000. This is a fixed amount paid irrespective of the actual cost of the funeral payer. This means that even if they were higher than PLN 4,000, we will not get the option to increase the amount of the allowance. The right to receive it lapses if the people paying for the funeral do not submit an application within 12 months from the date of death or from the date of the funeral - the latter situation applies to cases where, for example, there was a problem with, for example, finding a corpse. The allowance is paid within 30 days from the date of submitting the documents.

Funeral grant: who pays it?

The allowance is paid by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) or - in the case of farmers - by the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS) upon submission of an appropriate application by the interested persons.

The application is available at ZUS and KRUS offices, as well as on the websites of both institutions (ZUS Z-12 or KRUS SR-26).

When submitting the application, it is necessary to attach other documents:

  • death certificate (or birth certificate in case of stillbirth),
  • original bills or invoices that document the burial costs (or their copies certified by the bank),
  • a document confirming the relationship of the deceased with the applicant (marriage certificate, birth certificate, etc.)
  • pension or disability insurance certificate of the deceased or a family member.

The application and documents are submitted in person, sent by post or electronically (e.g. via the PUE ZUS system). It may also be submitted by an authorized person. This option is most often used by funeral directors that take care of all the formalities related to the burial, including collecting an allowance on behalf of the person paying for the funeral to cover its costs.

Category:

Geriatrics