Someone in the family died

17 steps across 10 agencies

The death certificate comes first, because every claim and every transfer asks for it. Then the benefits, then the estate.

Clocks that are already running

Estate tax return: 1 year from death
Extrajudicial settlement, creditor claims: 2 years
SSS funeral benefit: no published deadline

Each is sourced on the guide it belongs to. This page states no figure of its own.

01First, the document everything else needs

No agency will process a claim or a transfer without this. Get several copies.

PSA death certificateEvery step below asks for a copy. Request more than you think you need.Your own valid IDEvery claim below asks the claimant to prove who they are and how they are related.If the record has an errorA misspelt name on the death certificate stops claims the same way it stops a marriage licence. RA 9048 corrects a clerical error without going to court.

02Then claim what the deceased was owed

Which of these applies depends on where they worked and what they paid into.

SSS death and funeral benefitFor a private-sector member. Pays a funeral benefit and, for qualified beneficiaries, a pension.GSIS survivorship and funeral benefitFor a government employee. Survivorship pension is 50% of the basic monthly pension under RA 8291.SSS ACOP, if you now receive a survivor pensionA survivor pensioner must confirm yearly or the pension is suspended.yearly

03Then settle the estate

This is where the deadlines bite, and where most families are caught out.

Estate taxThe return is due within one year of death. Filing late is the most common and most expensive mistake here.1 yearExtrajudicial settlementOnly where the deceased left no will and the heirs agree. The estate stays charged for two years.2 yearsTransfer of titleMoving real property into the heirs' names, once the estate tax is settled.Tax declarationThe assessor's record does not follow the title. Until it is updated the tax bill keeps arriving in the deceased's name.Estate tax calculatorYou enter the current rate and confirm it, before you commit to a figure on the return.

04If it applies to your household

Unpaid hospital billsMalasakit Centers and PCSO guarantee letters can be sought for bills left behind.Solo parent IDA surviving parent raising a child alone qualifies under RA 11861.PCSO medical assistanceGuarantee letters for bills left behind, alongside the Malasakit route above.

05If they died working abroad

An OFW death runs through OWWA and the Migrant Workers Office as well as the agencies above, and repatriation of remains is handled there.

Help for distressed OFWsRepatriation and the 1348 hotline DMW and OWWA share. The first call, not the last.OWWA benefitsWhat an active membership entitles the family to on the member's death.OFW insuranceThe compulsory insurance carries a death benefit, and it is separate from anything SSS pays.

What this page is

A route through guides this site already publishes, in the order the situation actually demands. It carries no sourcing band because it asserts nothing: every figure lives on the guide it links to, with its own source and its own verification date.

Related situations

I lost my jobThere is money you are owed by your employer, money you can claim from SSS or GSIS, and help you can apply for. They are three different queues.Buying or selling propertyThe sale is the easy part. Moving the title into your name runs through BIR and two local offices, and every one of them has a deadline.