SSS Death & Funeral Benefit Calculator

Two claims, one death, and most families only file one

When an SSS member dies, two separate benefits become payable. The death benefit goes to the beneficiaries and replaces part of the income the household lost. The funeral benefit goes to whoever actually paid for the burial — which may not be a beneficiary at all^[2]. They are filed separately, approved separately, and paid separately. Claiming one does not claim the other.

If the member was also employed, ask about the Employees' Compensation (EC) death benefit too. When the death is work-connected, the EC program pays on top of the regular SSS death benefit, out of a separate fund.

Pension or lump sum: 36 contributions decides it

This is the single number that changes everything. If the member paid at least 36 monthly contributions before the semester of death, primary beneficiaries receive a monthly pension — for life in the spouse's case, until 21 for the children^[1]. Below 36, the same computation still runs, but it is paid out once and it ends there.

Secondary beneficiaries only come into the picture when there are no primary beneficiaries at all. A surviving spouse alone is enough to shut the parents out of the death benefit, even if the parents were the ones supporting the member.

The pension formula, and the ₱1,000 nobody mentions

The survivor pension uses exactly the same three formulas as the SSS retirement pension, and SSS pays whichever lands highest^[3]:

• ₱300 + 20% of AMSC + 2% of AMSC for every credited year past 10.
• 40% of AMSC. This one usually wins for shorter records.
• The statutory minimum — ₱1,000 under 10 credited years, ₱1,200 at 10 or more, ₱2,400 at 20 or more.

That ₱1,000 minimum branch is the one difference from retirement. Retirement needs 10 credited years before it pays anything at all; a death claim can land on a member with three years of contributions, so the law gives that computation a floor.

On top of the basic pension come two things people routinely forget when they budget: the ₱1,000 across-the-board additional benefit every pensioner has received since January 2017, and the 13th month pension paid every December. Thirteen payments a year, not twelve.

Dependents' pension: 10% each, up to five children

Each dependent child adds 10% of the basic pension or ₱250, whichever is higher, to the monthly cheque^[3]. A maximum of 5 children are ever paid, counted from the youngest up, and without substitution — when the eldest of five turns 21 and drops off, the sixth child does not slide into the vacancy.

A child qualifies while unmarried, not gainfully employed, and under 21 — or at any age if permanently incapacitated and incapable of self-support, where the incapacity started before 21.

The funeral benefit: ₱20,000 to ₱60,000

Since 20 October 2023, the funeral grant is a variable ₱20,000 to ₱60,000 when the member paid at least 36 contributions up to the month of death, and a fixed ₱12,000 for anyone with between 1 and 35^[2]. The variable amount scales with the number of contributions and the salary credit, starting at ₱20,000 and climbing from there. SSS does not publish the multiplier, so the figure above is an estimate built on the formula from the original variable-benefit circular — treat it as a floor-plus, not a quotation.

It is paid to whoever shouldered the funeral expenses, on proof of payment — the official receipt has to carry both the claimant's name and the deceased member's. A funeral parlour that was paid directly can claim it instead, which is why families who signed a deed of assignment sometimes find the grant already gone.

Why a ₱40,000 salary doesn't double the pension

Every figure here runs on the Average Monthly Salary Credit, and the Regular SS Program salary credit stops at ₱20,000^[4]. Contributions are collected on a salary credit running to ₱35,000, but the slice above ₱20,000 funds the Mandatory Provident Fund — the WISP — which is a separate account with its own payout, not part of the death benefit. The 2026 contribution table guide maps the split bracket by bracket.

The full filing walkthrough — the documents, the disbursement account, who signs what when there are children from a previous relationship — is in the SSS death and funeral benefit guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1. Social Security System — Death Benefit: the 36-contribution rule, the three pension formulas and their minimums, the dependents' pension, the 13th month pension, the ₱1,000 additional benefit, and the definitions of primary and secondary beneficiaries.
2. Social Security System — Funeral Benefit: the variable ₱20,000–₱60,000 range, the fixed ₱12,000 tier, and the 20 October 2023 effectivity under SSS Circular No. 2023-009.
3. Republic Act No. 11199 (Social Security Act of 2018), Sections 12, 12-A, 13 and 13-B — the monthly pension formula, the dependents' pension, the death benefit lump sum rules, and the statutory funeral grant.
4. SSS Circular No. 2020-032 — sets the Regular SS Program salary credit used in benefit computation at a maximum of ₱20,000.