The death of a parent can have serious financial repercussions on their loved ones, especially if they depended on them for a living. If we add to this an average cost of more than 3,300 euros to bury the deceased with dignity, a family can quickly find themselves in the red because of this tragic loss.
To avoid this, various types of aid can be requested, starting with the death benefit paid by Social Security.
What was the status of the deceased?
The granting of this compensation is conditioned on the situation in which the person was before his death. In general, she had to be up to date with her contributions to the general scheme. As a result, employees, compensated unemployed persons and beneficiaries of a work accident pension, an occupational disease or an invalidity pension are targeted, as are insured persons in a situation of continued entitlement. The same goes for traders and craftsmen who were affiliated as such to the Social Security scheme for the self-employed.
Finally, the family of a civil servant, not retired at the time of death, can also claim this financial benefit, subject to somewhat different procedures.
Who can benefit ?
Since the objective is to financially support the close family of the deceased, this death capital is logically attributed to the surviving spouse, children, or even ascendants. However, Social Security gives priority to people who were the effective, total and permanent dependent of the insured at the time of his death. This is obviously the case when a parent dies while his children, living with him, are still minors. We also think of a spouse or partner of PACS (cohabiting partners are excluded) not exercising a professional activity and who was consequently maintained by the deceased, or even a grandfather housed at his home.
In the absence of a request by priority beneficiaries, the death benefit reverts to the spouse or partner with a civil partnership. It is only if the deceased lived alone or with a partner that the compensation will be paid to the children or, if there is none, to the parents and grandparents.
What is the instruction ?
This service is absolutely not automatic. To claim this, you must complete form S3180 "Death benefit request", available from your primary health insurance fund (Cpam) or online, on the Ameli.fr website. This document must be sent to the Cpam of the deceased insured person, accompanied by the supporting documents indicated in the instructions (salary statements, RIB, copy of the family book, etc.).
In terms of time, priority claimants have one month from the death of their parent to assert their advantage. Beyond that, all potential beneficiaries (priority or not) have two years to send their request. Note: there is no priority system for the relatives of a deceased official. The request is sent to the administration and the sum goes to the spouse or partner who is PACS and to children under the age of 21.
How much to expect?
In the past, the size of the death benefit depended on the income of the deceased insured. The amount could therefore vary from 400 to 9,000 euros. However, the legislator changed things in 2015. Since then, this compensation has been a lump sum. In 2019, it amounted to 3,461 euros for the relatives of an employee or a civil servant (13,844 euros for a civil servant who died before the minimum retirement age).
In the case of a self-employed worker, the benefit is 8,104.80 euros, against 3,241.92 euros if he was retired, while an additional capital of around 2,000 euros is paid per dependent child.
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And tax question?
Since the aim is to help the bereaved family financially and not to impose an additional burden on them, the death benefit is completely non-taxable. It is therefore not subject to the usual contributions (CSG, CRDSS, social security) or to inheritance tax.
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