PF, Gratuity and Insurance Claims by Wife after Death of an Employee (who is not nominee)

subi-agrawal
Hi, I'm new to this. I have a question. If an employee is married and has nominated his parents for PF, gratuity, and insurance in an IT company, then after his death, can the widow claim for which amount? Additionally, what are the common death benefits that the wife can expect to receive from the employer?
Babu Alexander
In this scenario, the PF, gratuity, and insurance are payable based on the legal heir obtained before the civil adjudication. Management has to deposit the amount payable before the controlling authority for disbursement.
subi-agrawal
If an employer made a payment to parents, in this situation, who can the wife ask her in-laws to share the amount with his wife and kid?
Ashwani.S0807
Hi, I am Ashwani. I have a query about EPS. I started my job in April 2008. In May 2015, I switched to a new company, and then I moved to a second company in January 2016. From January 2016 to date, I have been working in my third company. Each time I changed jobs, I transferred my PF amount. Now, my total job period is 10 years and 1 month. Can someone suggest how I can access complete information about EPS? Is there an option to transfer all my previous company EPS amounts to my existing PF account? Please help me and suggest a way. Thanks
subi-agrawal
If you have your UAN number, connect your PF and Aadhar with UAN. Then check your e-passbook from the UAN portal to view all your previous PF and EPF details. Alternatively, you may directly ask your current employer, if you are currently employed, to provide you with the details of all your PF and EPF amounts.
Babu Alexander
If an employer pays gratuity amount to the father and mother as per the nomination of the deceased, knowing that the deceased was a married person, then the action of the management can be questioned.

Whenever any employee gets married, his wife becomes the nominee for all legal purposes. The claim of the father and mother should be based on a legal certificate and approached before the appropriate authority.
subi-agrawal
But an employee can nominate any member of his family, including his mother, father, or wife. All of these individuals are considered part of the family. How can I address this issue with management?
Venkata Vamsi Krishna Patnaik
Hi,

An employee can mention his choice as a nominee, but only when an untoward sudden incident like this happens does the problem arise, as all claimants (stating themselves to be legal heirs) would come into the picture. Therefore, management has to be a bit cautious while filling out or taking the nominee details. They should also hold such claims in the interest of the actual beneficiary if ambiguity exists.

The best option currently available is to suggest to the parents to give the share to the widow.
subi-agrawal
Venkata, the employer has already made the payment in Karnataka state. His parents belong to West Bengal, and I am from Uttar Pradesh. I am living with my parents in UP, but his parents and employer are not communicating by phone.

His parents had the intention to receive all the money, and the employer does not want to get involved in this matter after the payment. Now, my only option is to obtain a succession certificate.

Please let me know, can I get a succession certificate from the UP High Court, even though my husband passed away in Karnataka where we were residing in a rented flat? Also, we do not have any relatives in my in-laws' city in West Bengal.
nathrao
Nominee means a person who holds the estate/money on behalf of all entitled persons. As such, parents cannot claim money as their own and deny entitled members as per Hindu law.

Secondly, when a member acquires a family, rules for nomination under the EPF scheme 1952 are as follows:

Nomination:
A member has to give the names of the spouse and all children in the prescribed form. If the member has no family, one person can be nominated. However, such nomination will become invalid once the member acquires a family.
korgaonkar k a
Dear Anonymous Friend,

I am trying to answer you differently.

As regards to EPF and gratuity:

Para 61 of EPF Scheme and Section 6 of POG Act deal with the procedure for nomination to respective funds. According to this, the right of the nominee is restricted i.e. in the case of an employee having no family, a nomination can be made in favor of any person. However, as soon as there is a member in the family, a nominee in favor of an outsider becomes void, and a fresh nomination in favor of any member in the family has to be made. According to the Supreme Court in Shipra Sengupta's appeal (1999), the right of the wife to get EPF is not destroyed due to the mother's nomination.

As regards to Insurance:

A nominee is a person whose name is written in the proposal form. However, the position of the nominee is settled now by the Supreme Court in Sarbati Devi v Usha Devi (AIR 1984 SC 346). According to this judgment, a mere nomination under Section 39 does not confer on the nominee any beneficial interest in the amount payable under the insurance policy on the death of the insured.
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