A woman was denied a pension payment of 184,444 UAH that her late son did not receive while alive. The court's decision on the matter has been made.

Following the death of her son, a woman has acquired the right to receive the accrued but unpaid pension amounting to 184,444 hryvnias. She is demanding that the Pension Fund pay her this sum. This was stated in the decision of the Bohun District Court of Zhytomyr, published on December 23, 2024.

The woman is a legal heir after her son’s passing. The inheritance includes the accrued but unreceived funds during the life of the deceased, totaling 184,444 hryvnias, awarded in accordance with the decision of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court dated July 19, 2022, case No. 240/3067/22. She notes that the court's ruling from July 19, 2022, has not been executed, and her son did not receive the funds during his lifetime, which he was entitled to based on the court decision; therefore, as his legal heir, she has the right to claim them.

"Court decisions regarding pension provision, which have come into legal force, are executed by the bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine within the limits of obligations imposed by the court, considering the powers granted by current legislation. Payment of the accrued amount exceeding the budget allocations for the relevant year can be carried out only if there is corresponding funding from the state budget of Ukraine. Since January 1, 2013, the Law of Ukraine 'On State Guarantees for the Enforcement of Court Decisions' has come into effect, providing the procedure for executing court decisions on the recovery of funds where the debtor is a state authority, by writing off funds from the accounts of such a state body within the limits of budget allocations by the State Treasury Service of Ukraine. Moreover, the issue of entering data about the court decision into the register of decisions guaranteed by the state must be resolved by the GIS authority. Since April 1, 2021, the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 16, 2020, No. 1279 'Some Issues of Organizing Pension and Monetary Assistance Payments' has come into effect, which introduced changes to the Procedure for Paying Pensions and Monetary Assistance through Current Accounts in Banks, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution dated August 30, 1999, No. 1596. At the same time, amendments were made to subparagraph 4 of paragraph 4 of the Regulations on the Pension Fund of Ukraine, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine resolution dated July 23, 2014, No. 280, according to which the Pension Fund of Ukraine ensures timely and full financing of pension payments in line with its assigned tasks. The obligation imposed by the court to take actions for recalculation and payment of funds in case No. 240/3067/22, as stipulated by the Law of Ukraine 'On the Status and Social Protection of Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Disaster,' has been fully executed by the respondent in accordance with the court decision and within the powers assigned to fund management. Part 2 of Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine 'On Enforcement Proceedings' and part 1 of Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine 'On State Guarantees for the Enforcement of Court Decisions' stipulate that enforcement documents for the recovery of funds, with a territorial body of the fund as the debtor, i.e., a state authority, are presented for compulsory execution exclusively to the State Treasury Service, and the respective decisions are executed in order of priority. Furthermore, inheritance is not permitted in relations concerning pension payments that do not form part of the inheritance," - stated the PFU.

What did the court decide?

The court granted the woman's claim. The Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region will recover the unpaid pension payments due to the deceased, in her favor as part of the inheritance, according to the recalculation carried out in execution of the Zhytomyr District Administrative Court's decision dated July 19, 2022, in the amount of 188,444 hryvnias.

"The court believes that the obligations of the Main Department of the Pension Fund of Ukraine in the Zhytomyr region to pay the plaintiff the unpaid pension benefits in the order of inheritance represent an objective and justified means of protecting the plaintiff’s violated rights. At the same time, the lack of budgetary funds for the respondent to fulfill their obligation cannot be a basis for refusing to protect the violated rights," - emphasized the court.