A daughter demands 198,120 hryvnias in pension payments from the Pension Fund for her deceased mother. What was the court's decision?

Following the death of her mother, the woman acquired the right to receive the accrued but unpaid increased pension payment amounting to 198,120 hryvnias. She requests that the Pension Fund disburse this amount. This is stated in the decision of the Bohun District Court of Zhytomyr, published on January 22, 2025.

The woman's mother filed a lawsuit with the Main Directorate of the Pension Fund in the Zhytomyr region, and according to the ruling of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court in case No. 240/22303/21, the Main Directorate of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region is obliged to calculate and pay the pension increase to a non-working pensioner residing in a radioactive contamination area, in the amount determined by Article 39 of the Law of Ukraine dated February 28, 1991, No. 796-XII "On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Catastrophe," equal to two minimum wages established by the law on the State Budget of Ukraine for the year. She passed away, and her daughter became the heir after her death. In accordance with the court's decision, the Pension Fund conducted the recalculation of funds for the period starting from May 7, 2021. The resolution on the completion of the enforcement proceedings indicates that the amount of accrued funds totals 198,120 hryvnias. This amount remains unpaid. The response indicates that the Pension Fund does not intend to pay this sum to the citizen as the heir. The Pension Fund refers to the possibility of substituting parties in the case. The Zhytomyr District Administrative Court denied the applicants, citing the Supreme Court's ruling from January 30, 2020, in case No. 200/10269/19-a, which concluded that in the event of the social payments owed to the deceased passing to family members, the corresponding relationships do not constitute inheritance and, therefore, the norms of inheritance law do not apply. In this situation, the right to claim for the specified individuals arises not through inheritance but through another legal composition. The law indeed establishes a preferential right for family members of the deceased over the deceased's heirs to receive social payments that belonged to the deceased but were not received during their lifetime. The debt consists of the aforementioned amount of 198,120 hryvnias.

What did the court decide?

The court granted the claim. The Main Directorate of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region will recover the pension payments not received during the lifetime of the deceased from the heir, in accordance with the recalculation based on the decision of the Zhytomyr Administrative Court dated June 27, 2022, in case No. 240/22303, amounting to 198,120 hryvnias.

"The plaintiff submitted a statement to enter the inheritance within the statutory period after her mother's death. Therefore, as a legal heir who accepted the inheritance in accordance with the law, which is confirmed by a copy of the certificate issued by the Ovruch State Notary Office on March 14, 2024, No. 554/02-14, she has the right to receive the accrued but unpaid pension of her mother. Thus, the court believes that the plaintiff's right to receive the unpaid pension after her mother's death has been violated by the defendant and is subject to judicial protection. Considering that the amount of pension payments requested by the plaintiff is 198,120 hryvnias, supported by appropriate evidence, namely, a copy of the calculation of the amount due from pension case No. 918150184815 in execution of the decision of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court dated June 27, 2022, in case No. 240/22303/21 regarding the accrual and payment of pension increases to non-working pensioners residing in areas of radioactive contamination (Article 39 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Catastrophe") for the period from May 7, 2021, to August 31, 2022, the claims are to be fully satisfied," emphasized the court.