Muscat: The Social Protection Fund has clarified the categories and conditions governing entitlement to death pension benefits, including specific cases in which a grandfather or grandmother may be treated as a parent under Oman’s social protection system.
The clarification was made during a workshop delivered by Malik al Harthi from the Social Protection Fund at the Ministry of Information’s headquarters, in the presence of a number of directors and officials from the ministry. The session highlighted the eligibility of death pension, which explained who may qualify, the conditions attached to each category, and how pension shares are distributed among eligible beneficiaries.
According to the presentation, the main categories of beneficiaries include sons, daughters, a widow or widower, and parents, subject to rules related to age, marital status, employment status, income and ability to earn.Sons are eligible for the death pension until the age of 22.
Students may remain eligible until the age of 26, provided they are not married or employed.
Eligibility continues where a son is unable to earn a living.Daughters are eligible until the age of 30, provided they are not married or employed. Their eligibility also continues where they are unable to earn a living. For a widow or widower, continued eligibility is linked to the condition that the beneficiary has not remarried. The presentation also highlighted a notable clarification under the social protection system: fathers and mothers may be added as death pension beneficiaries where the deceased insured person has no eligible spouse or children.
In the absence of the relevant parent, the grandfather or grandmother may be treated in their place, subject to the same eligibility conditions. This point is significant because it shows that death pension entitlement may extend beyond immediate dependants in specific cases, but only within the order and conditions set by the social protection framework.
Income limits also apply to parents. The combined income of the father and mother from salary or pension registered with the Fund must not exceed RO 650 per month. If only one parent is present, that person’s income must not exceed RO 488 per month.
In both cases, the combined total of income and the death pension share must remain within the stated limits.
The presentation also explained that if a father or mother is eligible for more than one pension from more than one child, the higher pension applies. The right to a death pension share ceases in the event of marriage, according to the applicable rules.
On the distribution of shares, the workshop explained that 100 per cent of the pension is paid in all cases during the first six months following death. After that period, the share depends on the number of eligible beneficiaries. Where there are three or more beneficiaries, 100 per cent of the pension is paid. Where there are two beneficiaries, 80 per cent is paid. Where there is one beneficiary, 60 per cent is paid.
The presentation also noted that the entitlement of some categories, including fathers, mothers, sisters and daughters, may be reduced by an amount equivalent to the Old Age Benefit, with any surplus redistributed among eligible beneficiaries in line with the Social Protection Law.
It further explained that sons and daughters may combine their entitled shares from their father’s pension, while a widow or widower may combine their own pension with the share due from the deceased spouse’s pension.
The workshop formed part of efforts to strengthen institutional awareness of social insurance programmes and to clarify the rights of insured persons and their families in cases of death.
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