The government provides certain monthly payments to citizens under various assistance programs. Eligibility and application criteria for these payments vary depending on individual circumstances. When the required conditions are met and a written application is submitted, the state grants these payments under different names. Among these supports, the government also provides a monthly pension to the mothers of deceased insured individuals.
Death insurance (survivor’s benefits) does not benefit the insured person but offers social security to surviving relatives. Under the reform law, immediate family members—spouse, children, mother and father—are recognized as potential beneficiaries. Since the reform took effect on October 1, 2008, certain conditions must be met for a deceased insured person’s mother to qualify for a monthly pension. The conditions for granting a pension to the deceased’s mother are as follows:
- The applicant mother’s total income from all earnings and enforcement collections must be less than the net amount of the minimum wage.
- No other pension or income should have been granted to the mother on account of the deceased child beyond pensions or incomes earned from other children. If either the mother or the father already receives a retirement pension, the situation is evaluated accordingly; if the remaining parent meets the necessary criteria, a survivor’s pension may be granted to the mother.
- There must be a remaining share after allocating entitlements to the eligible spouse or children. The calculation is straightforward: if the deceased insured person had few children, an entitlement share may remain for the mother. However, if the mother or father is over 65 years old and other conditions are met, a pension can be granted even if no remaining share exists.
These are the primary conditions under the reform law for awarding a monthly pension to the mother of a deceased person. The rules differ for deaths occurring before the reform; the reform law also addresses some situations for deaths that occurred prior to its effective date.
For insured individuals who died between August 6, 2003 and September 30, 2008, a pension may be granted to the deceased’s mother if, after allocating shares to the insured person’s spouse and children, a remaining share is available. In these cases, the mother must not be working and must not be receiving an age pension. If no remaining share exists after distributing entitlements to the spouse and children, a pension cannot be granted to the mother.
Another important date in the reform law is August 6, 2003. For insured individuals who died before that date, a key requirement for granting a pension to the mother is that the deceased insured person must have been providing for household maintenance. The Social Security Institution investigates this; if it is determined that the deceased insured person was supporting the mother’s livelihood, the mother may be awarded a pension.
General Conditions for Granting a Pension to the Deceased Person’s Mother
The general conditions for awarding a monthly pension to the mother of a deceased insured person are defined as follows:
- The deceased insured person must have at least 1,800 days of reported contributions for disability, old-age, or survivor insurance.
- For SSK (Social Insurance Institution) insured individuals, excluding any periods credited through special repayment (borçlanma), they must have been insured for at least five years, and a total of at least 900 days of contributions for disability, old-age, and survivor insurance must have been paid.
Additionally, if an insured person was entitled to receive a disability, duty-related disability, or old-age pension but had not completed the payment procedures yet, their mother may still be eligible for a survivor’s pension. Furthermore, if a previously granted disability, duty disability, or old-age pension was suspended because the beneficiary returned to insured employment and that person later died, the deceased’s mother may receive a pension upon application.