Survivors Pension : Zambia National Pension Scheme Authority NAPSA
Name of the Organization : National Pension Scheme Authority
Type of Facility : Survivors Pension
Country: Zambia
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Survivors Pension:
There are two types of survivor’s benefits, Pension and Lump sum payments. There are three sets of conditions for eligibility. One set determines which members of the deceased’s family may be eligible for a benefit.
Related : Zambia National Pension Scheme Authority Retirement Pension : www.statusin.org/6512.html
These conditions are the same for both pensions and lump sum and are explained bellow. The second set determines whether the worker’s earning record satisfies the insured status requirements for awarding survivors’ benefits and if so, which one a pension or a lump sum. The third set determines what fraction of the sum available for all the survivors each one receives and how long a beneficiary entitled to a pension may continue to receive it. No survivor is eligible for a survivor’s benefit if the deceased member was uninsured at the time of his death.
The survivors’ pension is aimed primarily at protecting the spouse and children of the deceased member in the event of death. With the exception of the cases where a member dies without leaving a spouse or children, NAPSA will only pay a survivors’ pension to surviving spouses and children regardless of whether the marriage was done under statute or customary law.
Surviving spouses will be eligible for a pension until death or until they remarry if they are caring for one or more children of the deceased member.
If the surviving spouse is less than forty five years old and does not have the children of the deceased to care for, he or she shall receive a pension for only two years.
In order for surviving children to be eligible for the pension, they must be under the age of 18 or 25 years if they are in full time education. The Act also makes provision for unborn children and those who are disabled by the age of 18 years by the time of death of the member.
Since survivors’ pension is based on the work record of the decease member, it is a condition for the survivors’ pension that the said member should have qualified for a retirement or invalidity pension in order for the survivor to be eligible to draw a pension.
NAPSA shall divide the available pension among the survivors according to a formula without regard to whether any of the resultant shares falls below the minimum pension or not.
Which Family Members May be Eligible for a Survivors Benefit?:
As a condition of eligibility, in relation to the deceased member at the time of his death, the claimant must have been:
1. A spouse
2. A child under the age of twenty five (25), engaged in full time education, or
3. A child in utero, or
4. A child of any age who is disabled under the Act both by age of eighteen and at the time of death of the member.
Tests the Members Must Meet for His Eligible Survivors to Qualify for a Pension:
A surviving family member who applies is entitled to a survivor’s benefit if the deceased family member on whose earnings record he is applying, at the time of his death:
1. Was receiving either an invalidity pension or a retirement pension or
2. Was currently or fully insured.
Tests the Member Must Meet For His Eligible Survivors to Qualify for a Lump Sum:
A surviving family member who applies is entitled to survivor’s lump sum if the deceased family member on whose earnings record he is applying was partially insured at the time of his death.
The Available Sum for Survivors’ Pensions and Lump Sum Payments:
** The pension or the lump sum that each survivor receives is computed by dividing the available sum into shares, which are then allocated monthly to the eligible survivors.
** The calculation of the available sum differs according to the earnings record of the deceased member.
Determination of the Available Sum for Survivors Eligible for a Pension:
** If the deceased member was receiving a pension by the time of his death, the available sum is the amount of his monthly entitlement at the time of death.
** If the deceased member was not receiving a pension by the date of his death and if the date of his death the member was:
Of pensionable age, the available sum s the monthly retirement pension for which he was eligible at the date of death.
Not of pensionable age, the available sum is the monthly invalidity pension computed as though the member were disabled using his death as the date of onset invalidity.
Determination of the Available Sum for Survivors Receiving a Lump Sum:
The available sum for allocation among survivors entitled to a lump sum payment is the lump sum for which the deceased member was eligible at the time of his death.
Division of the Available Sum into Shares:
The available sum is divided into equal shares. The numbers of these shares are:
** One plus
** Twice of all the surviving spouses, including pregnant spouses, plus
** The number of surviving children under the age of 18 years, plus
** The number of surviving children 18 years old or older and less than 25 who are engaged in fulltime study plus
** The number of pregnant surviving spouses , plus
** The number of non-surviving spouses with at least one minor child by the deceased, plus
** The number of children of the deceased of any age who were disabled under the Act both by the age of eighteen and at the death of the member.
Allocation of Pension Shares among Qualified Survivors and Duration of Benefits:
A survivor entitled to a pension shall receive a pension consisting of a number of shares and for a period of time as shown here:
** A spouse who is forty-five years old or older at the death of the member shall receive a pension equal to two shares for life or until he/she remarries.
** A spouse who is less than forty-five years at the death of the member and who has the care of one or more minor children by the deceased member shall receive a pension a pension equal to two shares for life or until he/she remarries.
** A spouse who is less than 45 years old at the time of death of the member and does not have the care of at least one minor child by the deceased member shall receive a pension equal to two shares for two years from the date of death.
** Each child of the deceased member less than eighteen years old at the time of death and each child in utero of the deceased member shall receive a pension equal to one share until he reaches eighteen years or so long he remains engaged in full time education, but not beyond the age of twenty-five.
** Minor siblings who are children of a non surviving spouse by the deceased member shall in addition to the share each is allocated under (d) above, divide one share equally among them which each shall continue to receive until reaches eighteen years of age, or as long as he remains engaged in full time education, but not beyond the age of 25. An old child of the deceased member by a non-surviving spouse shall receive the entire share.
** Each child of the deceased who is engaged in full time education who is eighteen years of age or more but less than twenty-five at the time of death of the member shall receive pension equal to one share until he ceases to be engaged in full-time education or until he reaches twenty-five years of age, whichever occurs first.
** Each disabled child shall receive a pension equal to one share for life, or until NAPSA finds that he is no longer disabled.
Allocation of Lump Sum Shares among Qualified Survivors:
The share of available sum shall be divided among the survivors entitled to a lump sum of survivor’s benefits as follows:
** A spouse who is forty-five years old or older at the time of death of the member shall receive a lump sum equal to two shares.
** A spouse who is less than forty-five years old at the death of the member and has the care of one or more minor children shall receive a lump sum equal to two shares.
** A spouse who is less than forty-five years old at the death of the member and does not have the care of at least one minor child shall receive a lump sum equal to two shares
** Each child of the deceased member less than eighteen years old and each child in utero of the deceased member shall receive a lump sum equal to one share.
** Minor siblings who are children of a non-surviving spouse by the deceased member shall, in addition to the share each is allocated under (d) above, divide equally among them a lump sum equal to one share. An only child of the deceased member by a non-surviving spouse shall receive a lump sum equal to the entire share.
** Each child of the deceased who is engaged in full time education and who if eighteen years of age or more shall receive a lump equal to one share.
** Each disabled child shall receive a lump sum equal to one share.
Payment and Adjustment of Pensions:
With the consent of the beneficiary, NAPSA may pay a survivor’s pension quarterly or at other intervals.
In all cases, survivor’s pension shall be paid to the person entitled to that pension and no other person except that he may:
a) Pay a survivor’s pension on behalf of a child under the age of 16 to a parent or guardian caring for the child and with whom the child is ordinarily resident, and
b) Appoint a person to exercise, on behalf of a child under the age of 16 without a parent or guardian, or on behalf of an adult claimant or a beneficiary who is unable by reason of severe physical or mental incapacity to deal with his own affairs, any right to which that person may be entitled under the Act and to receive and deal with any sums payable on behalf of such a person.