SSS Death Benefit 2026 — A Guide on the Monthly Pension, Lump Sum and Funeral Benefit for Families of Deceased Members
SSS DEATH BENEFIT 2026 – If a family member who was an SSS member has passed away, here is a guide on who can receive a monthly death pension or a lump sum, how much the funeral benefit is, and the latest payout figures released by the state pension fund.
The Social Security System (SSS) said it released ₱63.74 billion in death benefits from January to September 2026, up 10.4% from ₱57.74 billion in the same period last year, according to an SSS news release dated November 6, 2026. That works out to an average of ₱7.08 billion paid to grieving families every month.
SSS President and CEO Victor Alfonso Limlingan said the biggest quarterly jump happened in the third quarter, when payouts rose by nearly 5% from the second quarter. He linked this to the early rollout in June 2026 of the second tranche of the Pension Reform Program, which raised the monthly pension of surviving spouses and other death pensioners by 5%, as also reported by Daily Tribune and Manila Standard.
SSS Death Benefit Figures (January to September 2026)
- Total death benefits paid: ₱63.74 billion (vs. ₱57.74 billion in 2025)
- Average monthly release: ₱7.08 billion
- Number of beneficiaries: about 1.4 million, up 5.7% from 1.3 million
- Share of surviving spouses / death pensioners: 89.8%
- Average monthly death pension (as of September 2026): ₱4,568
- Lowest monthly death pension: ₱2,000; highest: ₱23,422
Monthly Pension or Lump Sum — Which One Will You Get?
The SSS death benefit is a cash benefit paid to the beneficiaries of a deceased member, either as a monthly pension or as a one-time lump sum. Which one applies depends on how many contributions the member paid:
- Monthly pension – granted to the primary beneficiaries if the deceased member paid at least 36 monthly contributions before the semester of death.
- Lump sum – if the member paid fewer than 36 contributions before that period, the primary beneficiaries receive a one-time lump sum instead.
- Secondary beneficiaries – if there are no primary beneficiaries, the secondary beneficiaries may receive the lump sum benefit.
How Much Is the SSS Funeral Benefit?
Aside from the death benefit, SSS also pays a funeral benefit to qualified claimants of a deceased member. Based on the SSS release, the amount depends on the member’s contributions:
| Paid Contributions of the Deceased Member | Funeral Benefit |
|---|---|
| At least 1 but fewer than 36 monthly contributions | Fixed ₱12,000 |
| 36 or more monthly contributions | Variable, ₱20,000 to ₱60,000 (based on number of paid contributions and average monthly salary credit) |
Funeral benefit payouts also went up by 5% to ₱3.25 billion in the first nine months of 2026 from ₱3.09 billion a year earlier. The number of funeral benefit recipients rose 3.5% to 151,844, or an average of 16,872 claimants per month, SSS said.
How To File the Claim
According to the Daily Tribune report, eligible claimants may submit death and funeral benefit applications online through the My.SSS portal, while claimants who are not SSS members themselves may apply at an SSS branch. For questions about a specific claim, the SSS hotline is 1455 and its email is [email protected], as listed on the SSS website.
“The rise in death benefit disbursements shows that SSS is delivering on its mandate to protect Filipino workers and their families, especially during the most difficult moments of their lives,” Limlingan said.
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