Family of a foreign serviceman killed in Russian service: payments and inheritance

What is happening

The family lives outside Russia, often does not speak Russian and learns what happened in fragments: from fellow servicemen, from messages, from phone calls. It may have no official record of the death, while payments under Russian rules are made only in Russia, in roubles and after the family relationship has been checked against documents.

Sometimes help is offered by intermediaries who hold no authority and answer to no one. Whoever acts for the family should do so under a power of attorney with a clear list of powers and report to the principal, and the money should go to an account in the recipient's own name.

Payments and inheritance follow separate tracks. Payments go through the military commissariat, the military unit and the insurer; the inheritance goes through a notary. Each track has its own time limits, and missing those for the inheritance or for challenging a refusal is hard to put right later.

What the law says

• A foreign national lawfully present in Russia may conclude a contract for military service once (Article 34(1) of Federal Law No. 53-FZ of 28 March 1998 on Military Duty and Military Service). Neither the serviceman's citizenship nor that of the recipients is a condition in the rules governing death payments.
• Several separate payments arise on the death of a contract serviceman, each under its own instrument and with its own circle of recipients: the lump-sum benefit (Article 3(8) of Federal Law No. 306-FZ of 7 November 2011 on the Pay of Servicemen and Certain Payments to Them), the insurance sum (Article 5 of Federal Law No. 52-FZ of 28 March 1998 on Compulsory State Life and Health Insurance of Servicemen and Certain Other Categories), and, where the death is connected with participation in the special military operation, a further lump-sum payment under sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 1 of Presidential Decree No. 98 of 5 March 2022. Under certain conditions family members also receive a monthly compensation (Article 3(9) of Law No. 306-FZ).
• Who qualifies depends on the instrument. Under Law No. 306-FZ it is the spouse in a registered marriage on the day of death, the parents and the children (Article 3(11)). Under Law No. 52-FZ it is wider and, under certain conditions, includes for example a stepfather or stepmother and grandparents who raised the deceased (Article 2(3)). Payments are divided among recipients in equal shares.
• The insurance sum is paid within Russia in roubles, wherever the recipient lives (Article 11(3) of Law No. 52-FZ). The payment under Decree No. 98 is likewise made in Russia in roubles under the Procedure approved by Order No. 236 of the Minister of Defence of 22 April 2022, and family members living abroad are informed by the military unit or commissariat which documents are needed (paragraphs 7 and 10 of the Procedure).
• These payments are not part of the estate: the estate consists of property owned by the deceased at the time of death (Article 1112 of the Russian Civil Code). The inheritance must be accepted within six months (Article 1154(1) of the Civil Code). If the deceased last lived outside Russia, the inheritance is opened in Russia where the property is located (Article 1115), and the applicable law is determined under Article 1224 of the Civil Code.
• Unpaid service pay goes to family members who lived with the deceased and to his disabled dependants if they claim it within four months of the opening of the inheritance; otherwise it becomes part of the estate (Article 1183 of the Civil Code).
• An advocate represents the principal under a power of attorney and, where a federal law so requires, under a warrant issued by the bar formation (Article 6(2) of Federal Law No. 63-FZ of 31 May 2002 on Advocacy and the Bar in the Russian Federation). An advocate may send an official advocate's inquiry to public bodies and organisations; they must reply in writing within thirty days, which may be extended (Article 6.1 of Law No. 63-FZ).
• A refusal by a unit commander, a military commissar or a finance body of the Ministry of Defence is challenged in court under the Code of Administrative Procedure: the administrative claim is filed within three months of the day the family learned that its rights had been breached (Article 219(1) of the Code).

What we do

• We act under an engagement agreement with the principal. Information about the family and the case is protected by advocate-client privilege (Article 8 of Law No. 63-FZ).
• We prepare a bilingual draft power of attorney (Russian plus the family's language) listing each power separately: applications for each payment, obtaining records, appeals, the inheritance file, court representation. The simplest way is to have it certified by a Russian consul; if the consulate is far away, a notary in the family's country will do, after which an apostille is added.
• We send advocate's inquiries and requests to the unit, the commissariat, civil registry offices and the insurer to obtain records of service and death.
• We check the documents proving family ties and the spelling of names across all papers, and arrange notarised translation in Russia.
• We work out for each relative which payments he or she may claim and file the applications on his or her behalf.
• We explain in advance that the money is credited only to an account opened in the recipient's own name with a bank in Russia, and for a minor to a nominee account managed by the legal representative, and help to sort out the account details.
• We handle the inheritance file with the notary separately: where the inheritance is opened, which law applies, what property there is in Russia.
• Where a claim is turned down, we get the written decision, assess whether there are grounds to challenge it and represent the family in court.
• We keep the family regularly informed of what has been done, which records have arrived and which decisions have been taken.

What we need from you

• What is known about the deceased: the full name spelled as in the contract, date of birth, military unit, the city in which he signed the contract.
• Any communication about the death: a notice, letters, contacts of those who informed the family.
• Passports of the relatives and documents proving marriage and kinship, with an apostille or legalisation.
• A power of attorney for the advocate, once its wording has been agreed.
• The family's decision on which relative corresponds with us.