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Verkhovna Rada proposes equal distribution of payments among family members of the deceased

The Verkhovna Rada wants to regulate payments to the families of fallen persons with special services to the Motherland, according to draft law No. 13164. The draft law proposes to amend Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Monthly Cash Allowance to Certain Categories of Citizens” to regulate the appointment and payment of monthly cash allowances to family members in equal installments. What is the novelty of this amendment, found out [Kommersant].

The explanatory note states that the current legislation does not clearly define how to distribute payments among several family members of the deceased. This, in turn, gives rise to numerous court disputes. The draft law proposes to establish that “if there are two or more family members, the monthly cash payment will be allocated in equal parts among all recipients.”

This is the wording that is planned to be added to Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Monthly Cash Payment to Certain Categories of Citizens”, which provides that a monthly cash payment is paid from the date of application for its appointment to family members specified in part three of Article 2 of this Law in the amount of the minimum wage established as of January 1 of the calendar year (per month). However, the uncertainty of the provision on the amount of monthly cash payment in case of two or more family members forces citizens to go to court.

The current pension legislation provides that in cases of two or more disabled family members, the survivor’s pension is granted in the amount of 100 percent of the deceased breadwinner’s old-age pension, which is distributed among them in equal parts. A similar approach, as proposed in the draft law, is already provided for in the Law of Ukraine “On One-time Financial Assistance for Damage to Life and Health Caused to Employees of Critical Infrastructure Facilities, Civil Servants, and Local Government Officials as a Result of the Military Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”

There are other, more important issues regarding payments
According to attorney Oleh Leontiev, this addition will not change anything in essence – this article does not need to be regulated, instead, we need to focus on other issues. After all, the main problem is that during this time, over three years, the circle of persons entitled to survivor’s benefits has changed.

“First, there was a wording that payments are due to family members in accordance with the Family Code. Then it was stated that only minor children were eligible, and then the wording was changed to include children who were dependent on the deceased. Now it is just children, regardless of whether they are one year old or 40. Since the circle of persons has changed three times during this time, disputes arise that are resolved in courts. This primarily concerns payments after the death of a soldier. The lack of social justice on the part of the Ministry of Defense and the MCC, which are involved in the process, even when they realize that a close relative is entitled to payments, do not meet halfway. They do not agree to the distribution of payments and even deny the obvious,” said [Kommersant] oleg Leontyev shared his working moments with Komersant ukrainskyi.

“For example, people ask to recognize a soldier as missing or dead. But the Defense Ministry and the TCC deny this fact. At the same time, they refuse to pay 120 thousand UAH of monthly financial support to close relatives.

“It is necessary to clearly define the circle of people who are entitled to payments. We need to think about other mechanisms – who will receive the payments after the death of the heir. An old mother dies before she receives her payments, even though she was entitled to them. And today, all payment deadlines are delayed, and money is paid irregularly. And the question arises whether these payments are inherited or not. These are the problems that need to be solved,” the lawyer emphasizes.

At the same time, according to lawyers, there are a lot of cases in the courts today concerning the distribution of funds after the death of a soldier. But for some reason, no one has yet restored order.

The author: Alla Dunina