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- Special purpose: those conceived by IVF from deceased fathers may be given a social pension
Special purpose: those conceived by IVF from deceased fathers may be given a social pension
Children who were conceived after the death of their fathers as a result of IVF may be granted a fixed survivor's pension with annual indexation. In 2025 it will be 8.8 thousand rubles. In February, the Constitutional Court ruled: it is necessary to amend the legislation so that such children would be paid an insurance survivor's pension - it depends on the points accumulated by the father during his lifetime. However, according to Izvestia sources close to the social block, the Labor Ministry may consider the option of assigning such a category a social pension, which, unlike the insurance pension, is paid not from the Social Fund, but from the federal budget. And this will give the authorities an opportunity to avoid increasing the burden on the pension system.
Why it was necessary to change the approach to the assignment of pensions
As "Izvestia" was informed in the Ministry of Labor, the decision of the Constitutional Court on the establishment of a pension for the applicant's children will be executed in the near future.
- The Ministry's press service told Izvestia that it is already working on approaches to changing the legislation that will make it possible to implement this ruling.
Recall that on February 11, the Constitutional Court made a sensational decision - to amend the existing legislation on the appointment of insurance pension for loss of breadwinner to children who were conceived through IVF after the death of the parent, but - provided confirmation of the fact of paternity. Such a birth is now possible thanks to cryotechnology. However, no payments are provided for babies whose mothers have used the achievements of science.
The CC was approached by an applicant who, together with her husband, decided to give birth to a child using IVF, for which the man froze his biomaterial in 2016. However, at the end of the year he passed away.
In 2017, the woman successfully underwent an IVF procedure using her husband's biomaterial, and twins were born on the due date. Two years later, the district court established the fact of paternity of the deceased and the birth certificates of the babies were entered data about the father.
In particular, the applicant, who had given birth to two children using the frozen biomaterial of her deceased husband, was denied a survivor's insurance pension. Courts of all instances refused to satisfy the woman's claims. But the Constitutional Court took her side.
If before the freezing of their biomaterial was not too often resorted to mainly by people with serious illnesses before serious treatment, then after the start of the SWO in 2022, as the media wrote, the demand for such a service began to grow - especially since it has become quite budgetary.
What pension can be assigned to children conceived from deceased fathers
As noted above, the Ministry of Labor is now working out approaches to change the legislation. In particular, as sources close to the social block told Izvestia, the ministry may consider the option of assigning not a survivor's insurance pension to such children, but a social pension - as is the case with children now:
- Up to 18 (full-time students - up to 23) years of age who have lost one or both parents;
- of a deceased single mother;
- both parents of whom are unknown.
In order to acquire the right to a social pension, there is no condition that they were dependent on the deceased parent, which solves the problem with reproductive children, explained one of the interlocutors of Izvestia. According to him, this option would not even require changing the legislation, just adjusting law enforcement practice.
The Ministry of Labor did not confirm, but did not deny this possibility either.
Why did such a proposal arise? As Izvestia sources explained, the appointment of a survivor's insurance pension contradicts the principles of such payments. After all, in this case there is no insured event, which is the loss of income.
- Such children have not lost anything as a result of the death of the insured employee, as they were not dependent on him. There is the absence of an insured event," emphasized another interlocutor of Izvestia. - The fact is that the insurance pension protects the family members of the employee from the real loss of income, but not from the potential one, which they could theoretically receive, but in reality did not receive.
At the same time, the insurance pension is paid from the Social Fund budget. Simply put, from pension money, which is supposed to compensate for lost earnings, not to fulfill an incentive function, added Izvestia's source. Therefore, it is logical if the state takes over the payments from the federal budget, he noted.
What is the difference between the insurance survivor pension and the social one?
In addition to the sources of payments, social and insurance pensions differ both in essence and in size. Thus, the social one is actually a benefit from the state, which can be counted on by incapable citizens.
- Social pension in case of loss of breadwinner is appointed in case of complete absence of insurance record of the deceased or committing a criminally punishable act by incapable members of his family, which resulted in his death, - reminded Olga Staroverova, professor of the Department of State and Municipal Finance of Plekhanov Russian Economic University.
She specified that the amount of payment is fixed and indexed annually. This year, it amounts to Br8.8 thousand for children who lost one parent. The size of the insurance pension for the loss of the breadwinner, noted the expert, depends on the number of points accumulated by the deceased. According to the Social Fund, last year the average size of the insurance pension for the loss of the breadwinner amounted to Br15.2 thousand.
Naturally, such payments are not available to everyone. If the size of the insurance pension is less than the social one, the social survivor pension is assigned.
Why it is better to make payments from the federal budget
Yuri Voronin, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation, Head of the Center for Legal Support of Socio-Economic Reforms of IZISP, agrees that it makes sense to consider the option when payments will be made from the federal budget. At the same time, the lawyer does not see any problem in the fact that the size of the insurance pension for loss of breadwinner may differ greatly from the size of the social pension. He is sure that the state, if it assumes the function of supporting such families, can set any amount of social pension.
It would be appropriate to solve the issue of payments for children conceived by IVF from deceased fathers by analogy with children who receive social pension for loss of breadwinner, suggested Andrei Girinsky, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics of PFUR:
- Legislation on pension provision has a complex nature and changes can be made in a way that does not contradict the logic of normative regulation. In this regard, it may be considered advisable to consider making suitable amendments, including to the law on state pension provision (under which social pensions are granted - Izvestia).
If the option of insurance pensions is chosen, they will be paid at the expense of all insured workers, added Yuri Voronin. He reminded that the insurance pension is not charity on the part of the employer, as pension funds are actually formed at the expense of underpaid wages, which people could potentially receive if pension insurance did not exist.
Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, also believes that there is no need to burden the pension system with functions that are not inherent to it. The expert emphasized that there are already a lot of them.
- Long-term practice proves that when we start loading the insurance pension with other tasks, it stops coping with the purpose for which it was established - to compensate for lost earnings," agreed Yuri Voronin.
According to Alexander Safonov, it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach to the problem and regulate everything related to the use of reproductive technologies.
- The story considered by the Constitutional Court is one category," he reminded. - But there are other issues related to the use of reproductive technologies. For example, if a man donates his biomaterial as a donor, he does it without planning to fulfill the function of a father. But suppose a woman finds out who was the donor and sues for recognition of paternity and alimony. Simply because she finds herself in a difficult life situation. According to the existing legislation, she has all the rights.
But the donor is not protected in this sense - even if the woman before IVF wrote a waiver of claims for financial support from the biological father, the expert said.
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