Funeral allowance is one of the rights provided to the insured within the Turkish Social Security System. As provisioned by the Act No. 5510, the funeral allowance is a one-time aid provided to the family of the deceased insured, based on the tariff determined by the Social Security Institution’s Board of Directors and approved by the Minister of Labour and Social Security.
What are the conditions for benefiting from Funeral Allowance?
Funeral allowance is being given to beneficiaries of the deceased insured within the following conditions:
- If the death occurs as a result of a work accident or occupational disease, or
- If the death occurs while receiving permanent disability income, disability or old-age pension, or
- If the death occurs while at least 360 days of disability, old-age and death insurance premiums have been declared on behalf of the insured.
There will be no requirement to be insured on the date of death in order to provide funeral allowance to the beneficiaries of those who have been declared at least 360 days of disability, old age and survivors’ social insurance premium.
To whom is Funeral Allowance Paid?
Funeral allowance is given to the insured’s spouse, children, parents, or siblings. If it is documented that the funeral was carried out by real or legal persons other than these persons, the expenses are paid to the real or legal persons who have made or to be making the expenses.
If the funeral allowance cannot be paid to the listed persons and the insured person’s funeral is carried out by real or legal persons, the expenses based on expense documents, not exceeding the approved tariff, are paid to the real or legal persons who incurred the expense.
How to Apply to Benefit from Funeral Allowance?
For funeral allowance, beneficiaries will be required to apply to the Social Security Institution with an Benefit Allocation Request Document, and no separate petition will be requested.
If the conditions for granting pension to the beneficiaries are not met or if the funeral is carried out by real or legal persons other than spouse, child, mother/father or siblings, applications made with a petition will be accepted.
What is the Funeral Allowance Amount?
The funeral allowance amount is determined every year by increasing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) change rate announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute for the previous year, and the funeral allowance amount for the calendar year of 2023 is being determined as TRL 2,054.00.”
The funeral allowance of retirees subject to the Pension Fund Law No. 5434 (retired public officers) is TRL 8,240.00 for the calendar year of 2023, not to be less than the person’s pension (excluding compensation such as office, representation and duty compensation).
The statute of limitations for funeral allowance is five years from the date of entitlement.