The pension contribution is a right that all Colombians have to guarantee savings that allow them to protect themselves after working retirement age.
But, What happens when a person dies before having access to this financial benefit?
When a member dies, his beneficiaries can access a survivor’s pension, as long as the requirements established by law are met.
The survivor pension It is a benefit of the general system of social security in pensions whose purpose is to protect the family nucleus of the member or pensioner from the impact on economic income that his death may mean.
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Who is responsible for recognizing this benefit?
depending on the scheme in which the worker or pensioner was affiliated, the survivors’ pension is recognized by the pension system through Colpensiones or the AFPs, in the event of a natural death.
On the other hand, if the death was caused by an accident at work, this benefit will be granted by the ARL or insurers.
Pensions.
Both in the public system and in pension funds, This benefit will be granted to those who meet the following conditions:
– Evidence of 50 weeks of contributions in the General Pension System within the three years prior to the time of death.
– That the death is of common origin, that is to say that it will not occur as a consequence of an accident or occupational disease.
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Once the described requirements are fulfilled,The pension will be granted to those who prove to be beneficiaries as: spouse, permanent partner, who accredits five or more years of cohabitation prior to the death of the member; minor children between the ages of 18 and 25, financially dependent on the deceased affiliate.
Difference Between Affiliate and Pensioner
In the event that the person who was affiliated with the pension system, but had not yet retired, their beneficiaries must meet the established requirements to access a survivorship pension.
On the other hand, if the deceased had already retired, the figure that applies is that of pension substitution.
Although the access conditions apply to both models, the difference between the two lies in the moment in which the right to a survivor’s pension is created.
In other words, there is talk of pension substitution only when the person who dies is a pensioner, who had already consolidated his pension right while alive. While it refers to the survivor’s pension, when the person who died joined the pension system in search of obtaining this economic benefit.
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pensions
In such a situation, the pension funds will try to find the beneficiaries. In case they do not appear, there are two options:
– If someone is a member of the system, the resources in their account go to the Pension Solidarity Fund, an account intended to subsidize the pension contributions of population groups that due to their characteristics and socioeconomic conditions do not have access to Social Security Systems.
– If the person who had it is already a pensioner, the money will go to the Minimum Pension Guarantee Fund.
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