Payments to the family of a serviceman who has been killed

What is happening

There are several payments, awarded by different bodies under different rules. Families usually learn of them piecemeal: one is claimed, nobody mentions the second, and the third comes up a year later from an acquaintance. We begin by drawing up the full list of what the family may claim.

The second knot is who counts as family. A spouse, children, parents and sometimes people who were in fact dependent on him. The hardest disputes arise here: the marriage was never registered, paternity was never formalised, the parents had not spoken to their son for years, a child from a first marriage lives with another mother.

The third is the documentation of the death itself. Until the circumstances are recorded as connected with the performance of duties, no payment is awarded. If the serviceman is listed as missing, a different route applies, and that too has to be followed through.

What the law says

• The right of family members to the insurance sum and lump-sum payments where a serviceman is killed comes from the laws on compulsory state insurance and on the status of servicemen.
• The class of recipients is set by Article 3(11) of Law No. 306-FZ and Article 2 of Law No. 52-FZ: spouse, children, parents, and others who were dependent on him. Shares are divided equally unless Law No. 306-FZ provides otherwise.
• Dependency and de facto paternity, where documents are missing, are established by a court, and without such a judgment the payment is not awarded to that recipient.
• Alongside federal payments there are regional ones, set by each region, so the rules in Moscow and in the surrounding region differ.
• The family is awarded a survivor's pension, and certain benefits remain available: housing, medical and support for children's education.
• A refusal by an authority or an insurer is challenged in court; a dispute between relatives over shares is heard in civil proceedings.

What we do

• We draw up the list of every payment and support measure your family may claim, naming the body and the documents for each.
• We request the documents on the death and its circumstances: the unit report, the inquiry file, medical and forensic records.
• We prepare applications to all the bodies at once, rather than losing six months on each payment in turn.
• We conduct court proceedings to establish dependency, paternity or the fact of a marriage where documents are lacking.
• We challenge refusals by insurers and authorities, and act in disputes over shares between recipients.
• We help with the survivor's pension and with benefits for the children.

What we need from you

• Documents on the death: the notification from the unit, the death certificate, the certificate of circumstances.
• Documents of relationship: marriage and birth certificates, your own identity documents.
• His contract and extracts from the orders covering his service.
• Anything showing that you lived together and were supported: messages, transfers, registration records.
• Any refusals and replies already received from authorities or the insurer.
• Details of other recipients, if known, since the court hears the dispute with all of them together.