Life is uncertain. No one has seen tomorrow. But you can certainly secure it for your loved ones by taking a few steps today. One such is EPF Form-20 Final Settlement Claim Due To Death of EPF Member. All you need to do is be a diligent member of EPFO and follow a few steps. So, let’s know in detail what all you need to do for the betterment of tomorrow.
What Is EPF Form-20?
In this article
EPF is a provident fund made to meet future expenses after retirement. Every month from your daily wage, some amount gets deducted from this fund. In the times of your need, you’re free to withdraw, following different conditions, though. Yet, there are instances when you may not be in service in the same organization until the age of retirement. Be it an unfortunate death or anything as such; your family suffers the most. It may not fill your void, but certainly, the insurance money aids in meeting their demand.
A sum of Rs. 6 lakh is provided in the supervision of the EDLI scheme. Added to that, a monthly pension is provided to your widow/child under the EPS scheme.
Your family can also claim the withdrawal of EPF. Thus, Form-20 is used to claim withdrawal in case you’re a minor or a lunatic member.
Types And Requisites
After the death, your nominee or legal heir must submit the EPF Form-20 for the final settlement. However, with this, there are some other requisite attachments like EDLI, EPS claim.
The attachments depend on the following situations-
i. If you die in service, before 58 years of age-
EPF Form-20, Form-10D and Form-51F
ii. If you die after 58 years-
Served for 10 years- EPF Form-20, Form-10D, and Form-51, i.e., EDLI.
iii. If died being unemployed-
Attachment- EPF Form-20 and Form-10C/10D
So, now let’s discuss more Form-20 for the final settlement claim after death.
Eligibility To Fill Form-20
The only eligibility criteria required for this form is that the deceased member should be an active member of EPFO.
Yet, the Form-20 must get filled by-
- Guardian/manager of the minor
- Nominee or any legal heir of the deceased member
1. EPF Composite Form
It is the principal document you must fill and submit. You can easily download it online from the link given below
https://www.epfindia.gov.in/site_docs/PDFs/Circulars/Y2016-2017/Composite_Claim_Forms_31792.pdf.
i. Fill the form carefully. In the first row, in case of death, tick on the-
- Provident fund
- Pension claim
- Insurance EDLI
ii. Next, fill in the deceased member’s information, like his name, his father’s name, etc.
iii. Then comes the issue of scheme certification. You’ve to click either a yes/no. If it’s yes, write the NUMBER OF SCHEME CERTIFICATES. Then fill out the ISSUING OFFICE.
iv. Next, fill in year/month/days the PERIOD OF NON-CONTRIBUTARY SERVICE.
v. Then comes the box for the bank account details. You’ve to provide 5 claimant account details where the amount will get transferred. Provide in detail the name, signature of the claimants.
2. Death certificate of your late member
3. Birth certificates of the claimants
4. A joint photograph with all claimants in one frame. It is very much required to avoid fraud.
5. A scanned Xerox copy of the first page of the passbook where the money will get transferred. A copy of a cheque that’s canceled can also work.
6. Pension scheme certificate- It must include all the details of the claimants.
Documents Required For Form-20
i. Death certificate- It is must required document for Form-20. The applicant has to provide in the form to the EPF Commissioner.
ii. Guardian certificate- If the natural guardians are absent, a guardian certificate gets issued. A competent law court issues it. The applicant must attach it to the application before the handover of the form.
iii. Canceled cheque- It’s required for the amount to get transferred into the claimant’s account through ECS mode.
iv. EDF Form-5 IF- It’s required to claim the benefits under EDLI if the member dies before completion of his service.
v. EPF Form-10D- It’s used to claim the pension benefits. The widow/children of the deceased one can use this to claim their pension benefits.
vi. EPF Form-10C- It’s used to claim when the deceased member dies after 58 years. Yet, he hasn’t finished his 10 service years.
How Must You Fill-Up The Form-20?
Any family member of the deceased has to fill-up the form offline and hand over to the EPF Commissioner’s office. You also need to attach the required documents with the form.
Member’s Particulars
- Name of the deceased member
- In the case of a married woman, the name of her father/husband
- Address and name of the establishment where he/she was last employed
- EPF Account number
- Date when service ended
- Cause of leaving service
- Date of demise
- His/her marital status
Particulars Of The Applicant
- Name
- Father/husband’s name
- Gender
- Age as on the date of demise of the member
- Marital status
- Relation with the deceased member
Section For The Guardian/ Minor’s Manager
- Claimant’s name
- Claimant’s postal address (It should be in block letters)
- Relation with the deceased member/minor
- Father/husband’s name
- Mode of payment: Postal money order; By cheque or electronic mode sent to scheduled bank P.O.
Online PF Withdrawal Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Make sure your PAN and Aadhar details get verified for the online EPF withdrawal procedure. There shouldn’t exist any mismatch in your information on PAN and Aadhar card. Any mismatch will result in the form of rejection. If at all there exists any error, you can provide a joint declaration form and correct it.
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Transfer Details
In many instances, it’s seen that people tend to forget to transfer the EPF amount from an old account to a new one. Thus, their old EPF amount gets left out while the new account’s amount gets withdrawn. It has many consequences in the future.
To avoid this, visit the online site. Make a transfer request by clicking the One Member One EPF Account option. Only after this change, transfer all your amount into the fresh new account and go for withdrawal.
You need not worry about your pension funds not showing in your passbook. It’s not unusual, though!
Withdrawal Details
i. Check that your details are verified on Online services, and then click on any claim form.
ii. Move down the screen and check that your Date of Exit is filled. If not, your service period is still active, or your employer has not updated the latest. Make sure it gets updated. Else your claim will get rejected. Your exit date must be the last 2 months for you to avail of claim eligibility.
iii. After checking everything, mention your bank account details. It asks for the account’s last 4-digits for verification.
iv. Make sure that the address provided is correct. The EPF correspondence will get sent to you at that address.
v. Once your details get verified, visit the online site and click on the claim form option.
vi. Fill in all the data asked. If your service period is less than 6 months, the only form available for you is Form-31.
vii. After the fill-up completion, an OTP comes to your phone. Enter it in the box and click SUBMIT.
viii. After the final submission, a confirmation copy with a reference number’s received. You can use it to check the status of your claim.
Point To Note
i. Your EPF amount will get transferred to your registered bank account only. Thus, it must be active. If not, make sure you change it to a new bank account before submitting your withdrawal application.
ii. Your mobile number must get linked with your Aadhar card. It’s used for authentication and OTP verification purpose.
iii. The details submitted in the EPF application must match with Aadhar card details. If it doesn’t, the application gets rejected.
Attestation Of Requisite Copies With The Form-20
The applicant must forward the application to the employer of the deceased member. The employer and the claimant have to sign on each page of the form. Then the employer has to form it to the EPFO.
The form must get proper verification, and one of the following attestations must get attached if the organization closed-
- Magistrate
- Gazette officer
- Postmaster
- President of your village union
- Village Panchayat president where there’s no union board
- Regional committee of the EPF
- Manager of the savings bank
- Any recognized educational institution’s head
Important points to remember-
- Make sure you have submitted your active phone number.
- All the details you must mention in block letters.
- The residential address must be the latest one and correct.
EPF Account Scheme Benefits
Every EPF employer must contribute12% of their basic wage. Out of this 12% of your monthly wage, 8.33% is directed towards your EPS and 3.67% towards EPF. The rest of 0.5% goes to EDLI.
Along with you, your employer contributes 12% of his salary. Yet, his monthly contribution gets directed towards different components of PF.
‘No Claim’ Of Your EPF Amount
There lies a huge unclaimed amount of Rs. 27,000 crore in the accounts of EPF. The nominees/heirs do not find it requisite enough to withdraw. Isn’t this a huge amount? Yes, it is.
This ignorance in some employees or negligence of nominees is the causal agent. The money there is as useless as hay at a distance from a tied horse.
Not everyone is a pro in all these, agreed. But letting out a golden chance, is it worth it? Of course not. Then why not withdraw it?
FAQs
1. How long will it take to settle down the final PF?
During the offline or loads of paperwork days, it used to take many days. But now, since everything is online-based, it takes hardly 5-10 days. Earlier it was around 20 days. Further improvisation is also aimed to reduce it to 3 hrs. Amazing. All thanks to the digital media. Thus, reduce your stress and take a long breath. It won’t take much time.
2. What will happen to my PF after death?
After death, the amount gets to hand over to your nominee/legal heir. In case you’ve not mentioned any nominee, the amount goes to trust. Therefore, it’s always advisable to mention a nominee.
3. Who avails the money from death in service scheme?
In this cover, most of the time, the amount goes to some discretionary trust and not your loved ones—quite disheartening, right. Your loved ones may get the money from the trust. But since the money is already in someone else’s hands, getting it back is quite competitive.
Normally, the trustee is your employer. He has to decide where the lump sum has to go. However, you can make it more secure by mentioning a nominee. By doing so, you can let them know whom to hand over the amount to.
Conclusion
Even if you’re a member of EPFO, make sure your account number with linked phone number is updated regularly. Also, update/change your nominee if you want to beforehand. A small step taken today can do wonders tomorrow. Be it for you or your loved ones.
I hope this article added to your information and sounded useful to you. Also, make sure you share this piece of information with your friends, family, and colleagues. Peace!
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