Funeral grant from ZUS and KRUS: who receives it and how to apply

The funeral grant from ZUS or KRUS is paid to the person or institution that covered the costs of the funeral. The application must be submitted within 12 months of the date of death, and in the application you can authorise the funeral home that organised the funeral to receive the grant into its account. The amount of the grant is set by law, and the current amount is published by ZUS.

• 12 monthsto submit the application, counted from the date of death
• 1 timethe grant is paid once for the same deceased person
• ZUS or KRUSdepending on where the deceased was insured

Who is entitled to the funeral grant

The funeral grant is paid to whoever covered the costs of the funeral. This does not have to be a family member. It can also be an employer, a social care home, a municipality, a county, or a legal entity of a church or religious association.

The grant is payable after the death of:

• an insured person,
• a person receiving a retirement pension or disability pension,
• a person who on the day of death had not yet been granted the right to a retirement or disability pension, but met the conditions to receive it,
• a family member of an insured person or of a person receiving a retirement or disability pension.

Under the law, family members include, among others, a spouse, parents, a stepfather and stepmother, children (including adopted children and foster children), siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and persons under legal guardianship.

The grant is paid only once for the same deceased person.

ZUS or KRUS: where to submit the application

Which institution pays the grant depends on the insurance system the deceased was covered by.

• ZUS pays the grant for persons insured with ZUS and for ZUS retirees and pensioners. The application can be submitted at the ZUS office that paid the deceased's benefit, or at the office responsible for the place of residence of the person applying.
• KRUS pays the grant for persons insured with KRUS and receiving agricultural benefits, and for members of their families. The application can be submitted at any KRUS office.

If someone is entitled to a grant from both KRUS and ZUS, KRUS states that the grant will be awarded under separate regulations, for example those of ZUS. If in doubt, the simplest thing is to ask at the office you plan to visit.

Which documents to prepare

For ZUS, you submit an application for payment of the funeral grant on form Z-12. For KRUS, the funeral grant application is available at KRUS offices and on the KRUS website. The following are usually attached to the application:

• a short copy of the death certificate (at ZUS you can ask the office to obtain it itself, by giving the details of the deceased),
• the original bills for the funeral, for example an invoice from the funeral home or a document from the parish confirming the cost of the ceremony,
• if the original bills were submitted to a bank: copies certified by the bank as true copies of the originals,
• documents proving kinship or affinity with the deceased, if a family member is applying,
• at ZUS, proof of identity when applying in person; KRUS always asks for proof of identity,
• a power of attorney, if someone is submitting the application on your behalf.

For persons insured with ZUS, a certificate from the contribution payer confirming the insurance may also be needed. If a document is missing, the office asks you to supply it and sets a deadline.

Deadline: 12 months from the date of death

The application must be submitted within 12 months of the date of death. After this deadline the right to the grant lapses. This is what the Act on Retirement and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (ustawa o emeryturach i rentach z Funduszu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych) provides, and KRUS gives the same deadline.

An exception applies where submitting the application on time was impossible, for example because the body was found later, the deceased was identified later, or for other reasons entirely beyond the control of the entitled person. In that case the 12 months are counted from the day of the funeral. A document confirming this is attached to the application: a certificate from the Police or the prosecutor's office, a full copy of the death certificate, or another official document.

It is best not to leave the application for the last weeks. It is most often submitted right after the funeral.

Settlement through the funeral home

Many families do not want to pay the full cost of the funeral from their own money. For this reason ZUS and KRUS allow the grant to be settled through the funeral home.

1. The person who pays for the funeral fills in the application and enters in it the details of the funeral home that organised the funeral.

2. In the application they authorise the funeral home to receive the grant into its bank account, in full or in part.

3. The funeral home passes the application with the documents to ZUS or KRUS. At ZUS, the funeral home confirms the date the application was received with a stamp and signature.

4. The grant goes directly to the funeral home's account.

Lilia helps prepare the documents for the application and explains how such a settlement works. We agree the details by phone on +48 12 421 24 80. You can read more about what happens after the death of a loved one in our guide rules of conduct in the event of a death.

When someone outside the family organises the funeral

A funeral can be organised by a neighbour, a friend, a life partner or a more distant relative who is not a family member within the meaning of the law. Such a person can also receive the grant, but on different terms.

• A family member receives the grant in the amount set by law.
• A person outside the family receives reimbursement of the documented costs of the funeral, no more than the amount of the grant set by law.

For this reason a person outside the family should keep all invoices and bills for the funeral, issued in their own name. On this basis ZUS or KRUS decides how much to pay.

If the costs of the funeral were paid by several persons or institutions, the grant is divided between them in proportion to the costs each incurred. At KRUS, each of them submits a separate application.

Amount of the grant

The amount of the funeral grant is set by the Act on Retirement and Disability Pensions from the Social Insurance Fund (ustawa o emeryturach i rentach z Funduszu Ubezpieczeń Społecznych). The current amount is announced by the President of ZUS and published on zus.pl. The grant is paid at the amount in force on the day of death.

For the cost of the funeral itself, please ask by phone on +48 12 421 24 80. We have also gathered general information on the page how much a funeral in Kraków costs and in the description of our funeral services.

Frequently asked questions