National insurance laws

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Who is entitled to a survivor's benefit?

• Widower – someone who was married to the deceased or known to her community, at the time of her death, for at least one year (six months for a person aged 55 or over), if he has a child of the deceased with him or if he meets the income test.
• Widow – someone who was married to the deceased or known to his community, at the time of his death, for at least one year (six months for a woman aged 55 or over) or if she gave birth to a child for him.
• Child (orphan) – a child of the deceased (including a stepchild or adopted child or a grandchild whose entire support was on the deceased) who has not reached the age of 18;
• or he has not turned 20 and is completing his studies at a secondary educational institution;
• or he has not turned 22 and is serving regular service in the IDF, and 36 months have not passed since the date of his enlistment;
• or (for a daughter only) she has not turned 22 and is serving national service;
• Or he is under 20 years old and is serving in an IDF pre-military training program;
• Either he is not yet 22 years old and is a conscript; or he is not yet 21 years old and is volunteering for a year of service.
• As of March 1, 1999, children born to a married woman who did not work outside the household (housewife) are also entitled to the benefit.
• Conditions of eligibility for a survivor's benefit upon death – except for death due to war or hostilities. Completion of a "training period" – 12 months of insurance regularly before death, or 24 months of insurance in the last 5 years before death, or 60 months of insurance in the last 10 years before death or 144 months of insurance, or 60 months of insurance provided that the number of months of insurance is not less than the number of months of non-insurance.

Exemptions from "training period":

• An insured person who dies within the first year of his/her immigration;
• An insured person who died before reaching the age of 19;
• An insured person who died within one year of the date of divorce or widowhood.
• An insured person whose spouse or children's main source of income was from him.
• An insured who leaves behind a child.
• An insured person who received a disability pension.
• Payment of insurance premiums (for non-employed insured persons and a woman who is not a housewife) A debt of the insured in insurance premiums negates the entitlement of his survivors to a pension or reduces the pension rate according to the amount of the debt and the time of delay in payment.
• Survivors' pension amounts - updated in January 2005 in NIS: Widower or widow 1,124 Addition for each child 527 Young widow 844 Seniority addition - 2% of the pension for each year of insurance beyond the first 10 years of insurance completed by the deceased.
• Income Supplement: A low-income survivor's pension recipient who meets the income test is entitled to an income supplement.
• The supplement supplements the allowance to the guaranteed minimum income amounts.
• Survivors' pension amounts with income supplementation - updated in January 2005: Widower or widow 1,940 Widower/widower with a child 3,106 Widower/widow with 2 children 844 Children only 1 child 1,584 Two children 2,290 Each additional child 702 A claim for survivors' pension and income supplementation must be submitted in writing, on an appropriate form, to the branch of the National Insurance Institute in the place of residence.
• A claim for a survivor's pension under the National Insurance Law must be submitted to the institution no later than 12 months after the date of death.
• If someone who received an old-age pension or disability pension dies, the survivor's pension will be paid from the 1st of the month following the month of death.

If someone dies who did not receive an old-age pension or disability pension, the pension will be paid as follows:

• If the survivors are entitled to income supplementation, the pension will be paid from the 1st of the month of death;
• If the survivors are not entitled to income supplementation, the pension will be paid from the 1st of the month of death,
• If the death was before the 16th of the month, and from the 1st of the month following the month of death, if the death was after the 15th of the month.
• If the claim was filed late, the beneficiary may only receive the pension up to 12 months in retrospect.
• You can download a claim form here. A special benefit (survivors) is paid to the widow and orphans of an Israeli resident who was not insured because he was 60 years old or older on the day of his aliyah.
• The special benefit rates are equal to the survivor's pension rates according to the National Insurance Law, but no seniority supplement will be paid.
• Conditions for eligibility for a special benefit (survivors): Ineligibility for a benefit under the National Insurance Law, and meeting income tests.
• Survivors' grant: A widow who has not turned 40 and has no children is entitled to a one-time grant in the amount of 36 monthly allowances, and is not entitled to a monthly allowance.
• A widower in these circumstances will be paid a grant if he was married to a woman who was insured as an employee and he was recognized as a "widower" because of his low income.
• Marriage grant for a widow/widower receiving a survivor's pension who has married – a one-time grant in the amount of 36 monthly allowances.
• The grant is paid in two installments: one after the wedding anniversary, and the second at the end of two years from the wedding anniversary (the right to a survivor's pension expires).
• Vocational rehabilitation for widows and widowers; vocational studies (vocational training);
• Payment of living expenses during studies and payment of expenses related to studies.

Who is eligible for vocational rehabilitation?

• Widows of working age, who receive a survivor's pension, and are unemployed, or do not earn a living, or need vocational training due to their widowhood.
• To receive vocational training, you must contact the rehabilitation officer at the branch of the National Insurance Institute in your place of residence and fill out a claim form for vocational training.
• Orphan living allowance for an orphan child whose main time is devoted to post-primary education or vocational training, according to the parent's income test.
• The amount of living allowance in January 2005 – NIS 527 for a child living with a widow/widower who is entitled to receive a supplement to the survivor's pension for the child.
• 702 NIS for a child who does not have a widow/widower who is entitled to receive an addition to the survivor's pension on his behalf or on behalf of his sibling.
• Bar Mitzvah grant for a 13-year-old orphan and a 12-year-old orphan.
• The grant amount in January 2005 – 4,742 NIS.
• Death grant: If a person who received a survivor's pension dies, a lump sum grant will be paid to the person who was his spouse at the time of his death, and if there is no spouse for his child. See the definition of a child above.
• The amount of the grant in January 2005 – NIS 6,768, and if the recipient was paid income supplement allowance, NIS 7,050.

Burial fees are paid directly to the Hevra Kadisha to cover all burial expenses.
Payment of National Insurance Contributions A widower or widower is required to pay insurance contributions.
Exempt from paying insurance premiums: A woman who works only in her household and is not insured by the authority. Entitled to an old-age pension.
Anyone who continues to work as a self-employed person is required to pay insurance premiums for the work injury branch only.
and above, even if 0 and above and a man aged 70 and a woman aged 65 do not receive an old-age pension.
Payment of health insurance premiums A widower or widower is required to pay health insurance premiums of NIS per month.
Health insurance premiums are deducted from the survivors' benefit, with a minimum of 84 as an employee, as a self-employed person, as someone with income other than work) (the recipient of the benefit has no income subject to insurance premiums. Deduction from survivors' benefit The institution is entitled to deduct from the survivors' benefit a debt in insurance premiums and other benefit amounts that were paid in error or unlawfully.
Supplements to survivors' benefits. 4. Seniority supplement The survivors of those who were insured 11 years or more ago are entitled to a seniority supplement.
Rate of addition: For each year, from the 11th year of insurance – his death, 2% of the pension.
Maximum supplement rate – 50% Income Supplement Income Supplement is paid to ensure a minimum income and is paid according to the age of the widow/widower and the number of children they have.

These are the conditions that determine whether you will be eligible for additional income supplement:
1. The amount of the survivor's pension you are entitled to, including seniority allowance, will not exceed the rates above.
2. You are in Israel – (If you are abroad for more than a month, you are not entitled to additional income supplement in your absence).
3. You are not a member of a kibbutz or cooperative moshav, and you are not a "working parent" of a member of a kibbutz or cooperative moshav.
4. You don't have a car unless you need a car for medical treatment.
5. Do you have no income other than National Insurance benefits? Or? Do you have additional income from a pension or from work, but its amount (gross per month) does not exceed or only slightly exceeds 905 ? for an individual or 1184 ? for a couple. Or do you have savings in funds - provident, capital or property, the total income from these sources (for example, interest or rent) and from the LBL institution benefits does not exceed the minimum income limits as specified above (including property that is not taken into account, except for the residential apartment).
From which income will be brought a financial deposit in an amount not exceeding 4 times the average wage for an individual and 6 times the average wage for a couple, which will not affect the right to supplement income.
A man who has not yet turned 65 and a woman who has not yet turned 60? They must be registered with the Employment Service Bureau. A single parent who has a child with them who has not yet turned two years old is exempt from this.
Anyone who is one of the following is not entitled to additional income supplement (even if they meet the above conditions): Anyone who is abroad for more than a month.
Anyone who is a member of a kibbutz or cooperative moshav or a "working parent" of a member of a kibbutz or cooperative moshav.
Anyone who owns a vehicle, unless he or a family member needs a vehicle for medical treatment.
E. How to file a claim for survivors' benefits When to file a claim? For survivors' benefits, a claim must be filed with the institution no later than 12 months after the date of death.
If the claim was filed after 12 months, the beneficiary may be 48 months late.
Starting in July 2003, the benefit will be paid retroactively only for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Claim for additional income supplementation: Must be filed with the claim for benefits or at the time the claimant's income has decreased to the rate that entitles him to supplementation.
The income supplement is paid from the month of death. The supplement will not be paid retroactively for a period of more than 6 months from the date the claim is filed.

How do you file a claim?

• A claim for a survivors' benefit must be submitted on Form Bell/417, which is available at all branches of the institution in the survivors' department, and on the website, which details the documents that must be attached to the claim.
• The claim can be sent by mail. The benefit is paid under certain conditions from the beginning of the month of death, and under certain conditions from the month following death.
• A claim for additional income supplement must be submitted on a form, accompanied by the documents detailed therein, and submitted to the institution's branch nearest to the place of residence, in the Survivors' Department.
• Those requesting income supplement will be interviewed by a National Insurance Institute official to clarify complete details about their income and assets.
• When is the benefit paid? The benefit is paid on the 28th of each month for that month.
• Upon receipt of approval of the claim, the eligible person receives notification of the first payment due to him.
• How is the benefit paid? The benefit is paid to the beneficiary's bank account, provided that the account is held in his name only. Or in his name and that of his parent, son or daughter.
• In settlements where there are no bank branches, the benefit is paid through post offices, including mobile mail. In this case, the person entitled to the benefit must inform the National Insurance Institute of which post office is convenient for him to receive the benefit.
• The benefit must be collected no later than the month following the month of payment. If it is not collected by this date, the benefit will be added to one of the 19 consecutive months, and payment will be suspended until further notice.
• Upcoming payments.
• If a beneficiary living in a kibbutz or cooperative moshav has not collected a benefit for 3 months, it will be paid, at the request of the beneficiary, to the kibbutz or moshav account.
• Anyone who stays abroad for a period not exceeding 6 months will have the benefit paid to his personal account at a bank in Israel.
• Those who stay abroad for a period exceeding 6 months and those who emigrate from the country must notify the institution in writing of the trip and request continued payment of the benefit.
• Those who live in Austria, Uruguay, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Finland, the Czech Republic, France, Sweden or Switzerland may receive the benefit in these countries, even if the deceased was not a resident of Israel at the time of death (details in the Old Age and Survivors Division, at the main office in Jerusalem, 13 Weizmann Blvd.).
• A person living in the US may receive the benefit while in the US, only if the deceased was a resident of Israel at the time of death and his or her survivors legally received a survivors' benefit upon their departure to the US.
• Vocational training A widow or widower who receives a survivor's benefit or survivor's grant is entitled to vocational training, or vocational retraining through the rehabilitation services of the National Insurance Institute, if they meet the following conditions: They are unskilled or - who cannot earn a living from their profession.
• If they are not eligible for training – under another law. They are interested and suitable, – in the opinion of the rehabilitation officer, to learn a profession.
• The training period will not exceed one year, except in special cases.
• A widower or widower who is found suitable for studies at an institution of higher education for the purpose of acquiring a profession will be eligible for funding for the entire period of study.

How do I apply for professional training?

• You must contact the National Insurance branch closest to your place of residence, the Rehabilitation Department, and fill out a "Claim Form for Vocational Training" (Bel/270).
• Living allowance for a widow or widower during the period of professional training, the institution will pay the following payments (in addition to the survivors' benefit): Monthly living allowance – (based on the number of children and the number of hours of study at the training location).
• Tuition expenses – and study materials, living expenses, accommodation, and travel related to studies.
• The expenses of training and diagnosis for choosing a profession.
• For children, a child who, due to the death of his parent, is paid a survivor's pension is entitled to at least a living allowance if the majority of his time (24 hours) is devoted to secondary education or vocational training.
• Living allowances for children will be paid provided that they have completed 8 years of compulsory education and their maintenance is not at the expense of the state.
• In addition to these conditions, there is an income test. Widows are entitled to receive living allowances for their children even if no additional benefit is paid for them.
• A child whose father or mother does not receive a supplement to the survivor's benefit for children is entitled to a higher rate of living allowance than a child whose father and mother receive a supplement to the benefit for a child.
• Burial Fees For whom are burial fees paid and to whom are they paid? The LBL Institute pays burial fees for every person who dies in Israel and is buried there, and for every resident of Israel who dies outside Israel and is buried in Israel.
• Burial fees are paid directly to the Hevra Kadisha and to any body legally authorized to engage in burials, which has signed an agreement with the Leval Institute in this matter.
• Are Chevra Kadisha allowed to charge a fee for burial? Chevra Kadisha and any entity authorized to engage in burial, which has signed an agreement with the institution in this regard, will not charge any fee from the family of the deceased for the burial and the customary services in connection with the burial.
• Burial services that a Hebra Kadisha must provide free of charge: graveside, purification of the deceased; cloth for regular shrouds; grave digging; covering the grave; paving stones for the tomb building; plaque with the name of the deceased; participation of a cantor;
• Transferring the deceased - within the company's scope of care - from the place of death to the funeral home and from there to the cemetery;
• Transfer of the deceased - within the scope of the company's care before the day of the funeral from the place of death to a hospital or funeral home during regular business hours.
• The burial services for which the Kadisha Society is authorized to charge a fee include burial in a cemetery that has been designated as "closed", burial in special plots that have been designated as "exceptional plots", a living grave, the transfer of the deceased from a place outside the Kadisha Society's area of ​​care (subject to an agreement between the institution and the company), deviation from the direct funeral route for the purpose of eulogy or other last respects upon express request, the transfer of the deceased before the day of the funeral outside of regular working hours, special shrouds at the request of the family (only the difference between the price of the special shrouds and the price of the regular shrouds will be charged).
• The institution does not pay the expenses for building the foundation for her monument and for constructing her tombstone, and these will be borne by the family.
• The National Insurance Institute does not pay or reimburse the family of the deceased for burial expenses if the deceased was brought for burial by an entity that has not signed an agreement with the Institute for the payment of burial fees.
• Survivors' benefit recipients who reach old-age pension age will be entitled to old-age and survivors' benefits according to the following breakdown: Those who have accumulated an insurance period - as required by law - will be entitled to a full old-age pension and half a survivors' benefit.
• Those who have not accumulated an insurance period as required by law, and are not insured with old-age insurance, will receive a full survivor's benefit.
• When they complete an insurance period, they will receive a full old-age pension and half a survivor's benefit.
• What is the insurance period required by law? Who is insured in old age and survivors' insurance? Every male resident of Israel, provided that he became a resident of Israel for the first time before the age of 60 Every female resident of Israel who is employed or self-employed, provided that she became a resident of Israel before the age of 60 Anyone who belongs to one of the following is insured even if she is not working: a married woman (except a woman receiving a survivors' pension), a woman receiving a general disability pension, a woman whose partner is not insured, a woman who insured herself with insurance through the Authority.
• Entitled to a survivor's benefit and another benefit under the National Insurance Law. A person who is entitled to a survivor's benefit and is also entitled to another benefit under the National Insurance Law cannot receive more than one benefit and must choose one of them.
• Those who are entitled to a survivor's benefit and a permanent disability pension from work are entitled in certain cases to capitalization of the disability pension (receiving the entire amount in cash).
• Entitled to a survivor's benefit and another benefit due to the same event, he will choose one of the two benefits according to his considerations: The Police Law and the laws: The Families of Soldiers Who Died in Action (Compensations and Rehabilitation) Law, 1950 (disabled and deceased);
• Prison Service (Disabled and Casualties); Compensation for Victims of Hostile Acts Law 1969.
• Survivors of someone who died due to a work accident or act of hostility are entitled to receive a dependent benefit for work injuries from the institution.
• In such a case, the beneficiary will choose between a survivor's benefit and a dependent's benefit.
• Third-party claim: A person who receives a survivor's benefit and claims any compensation from a third party for the damage caused (according to the Torts Ordinance, new version, or according to the Compensation for Road Accident Victims Law) must notify the LBL Institute of the claim.
• The Institute may also sue the person who caused the damage. 1 Appealing the Institute's decisions You can file a claim with the Labor Court against the Institute's decision within 6 months from the date you were given the decision of the National Insurance Institute. (There are labor courts in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nazareth Illit and Beer Sheva).
• A decision of the Regional Labor Court may be appealed before the National Court, Jerusalem, Mandelbaum Crossing, PO Box 1328, 02-5410555 Legal aid If the claim for benefits was rejected and you wish to appeal this decision before the Labor Court, you may request legal aid from the Legal Aid Office of the Ministry of Justice in your area of ​​residence.

The Bureau will examine whether your claim has a reasonable chance in terms of law, facts, or evidence, and will decide accordingly regarding the provision of assistance.
Legal aid is provided free of charge.
Legal aid is available in the three largest cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.
Public telephone information service 08-9369696 or 08-6509999
Sunday-Wednesday between 11:30 PM-3:00 PM Thursday between 6:30 PM-3:00 PM Friday between 2:30 PM-7:00 AM
Call center for paying credit card debts 08-6509911
Internet address: www.btl.gov.il You can download a form for survivors' benefits from the website and send it by mail to the National Insurance branch closest to your place of residence.
Public Inquiries Division 02-6709070 http://www.btl.gov.il/code_heb/pniot_tofes_gen.htm