Procedure for claiming deposit in Provident Fund In the absence of nomination after the death of the account holder (PF) account is relatively less cumbersome as compared to banks. The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) scheme clearly states that the income is distributed equally among the family members of the deceased.
Manit Pal Singh, Partner, IP Pasricha & Co said, “The family consists of spouse, children (married or unmarried), dependent parents, dependent parents of husband in case of female member, widow of deceased son and Children are involved.”
The ‘Family’ members will have to fill Form 20 along with the list of all the surviving members as on the date of death of the account holder provided by the company with which the account holder was last employed. If no employer is available, the list should be obtained from an Executive Magistrate. Other documents that are required include the death certificate of the account holder and a copy of the blank canceled cheque.
“Once all the documents are provided and the claim is accepted” EPF The commissioners will settle the claim in 30 working days from the day of receipt of the claim,” Singh said.
In addition, the PF account is with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) or a private trust will also determine the claim settlement time. “If the deceased person had deposited his/her PF with a private PF trust, the family members would need to approach the trust/representatives of the employer who has set up the trust for the settlement process,” said Dorothy Thomas, Partner Said, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.
“The process of claiming money from a private PF trust should be faster as compared to EPFO as the employer is expected to have relevant records of the account holder to process such claims,” said Narendra Dingankar, partner, Pioneer Legal.
However, this process becomes difficult if the account holder has left a will but has not made a nomination. “The claimants under a will are asked to submit probate or succession certificate/letter of administration of the will to make a valid claim. This is a precautionary measure to avoid future challenges and to entertain genuine claims. Normally, in uncontested cases, it may take at least 5-6 months to obtain probate or succession certificates or letters of administration,” Dingankar said.
Generally, an additional requirement for executing a will is to obtain witnesses.
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