Death of the pension beneficiary

Reporting of death

If the pension beneficiary dies in the territory of the Czech Republic, this does not need to be reported to the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSA). The reporting of death is the responsibility of the authorities responsible for managing registries that will inform CSSA of this within two weeks after the entry in the registry. CSSA will continue to receive information on deaths from the register of inhabitants, information system of the registry of citizens and the received applications for survivors’ benefits. However, if a pensioner dies in a social service facility, his death is reported to CSSA by the facility.

However, for practical reasons, it is appropriate to inform the District Social Security Administration/Prague Social Security Administration/Brno Municipal Social Security Administration (hereinafter the DSSA) in the place of residence of the deceased or survivors or to the Client Centre at the CSSA headquarters, or to report the death via the pension insurance call centre at 800 050 248 at the earliest convenience. In addition, DSSA, the Client Centre at the CSSA headquarters, as well as the call centre, will provide professional advice on how to deal with any entitlement to a survivor's pension or pension payments that have been paid but the entitlement due to death, etc., no longer exists.

If the Czech pension beneficiary dies abroad, it is appropriate if the survivors inform CSSA of this. The death may be reported by an email.

However, if the pension is paid to another beneficiary (i.e. a legal representative, guardian, special recipient or member of the household representing the pensioner under Sections 49 and 50 of the Civil Code), the other recipient is obliged to report the death of the pensioner in writing to the payer of the pension within 8 days of death.

As a result of the death of the pensioner the entitlement to a pension shall cease to exist.

The entitlement to pension and payment of arrears

The entitlement to payment of pension arrears shall be acquired gradually by a spouse or children.

If there is neither spouse nor children, the arrears shall become the subject of inheritance. The notary will decide in the inheritance proceedings who of the heirs will receive the sum. CSSA will remit the amount to the legitimate heir upon his/her request. The request (invitation) to surrender the arrears of the pension from CSSA must be submitted with an attached copy of the final and decisive resolution of the inheritance court. If multiple heirs are to be treated as successors, the request (invitation) to surrender the arrears may be made by a single submission, but all heirs must be sufficiently identified (first name, surname, date of birth/Czech birth number, address of permanent residence) and duly signed (an officially authenticated signature is not required). The heirs may also appoint a joint attorney, or each heir may authorize a different person.

The arrears of the pension shall be paid by CSSA to the legitimate heir to the address designated or to the bank account designated by him/her, so the method must be specified in the request. In the event of multiple heirs, a combination of both methods of payment of the arrears may be accepted, taking into account requests of each of the heirs.

The officially authenticated copy of the resolution on inheritance must be sent by post to: ČSSZ, oddělení výplat do zahraničí, Křížová 25, 225 08 Praha 5.