Death benefits

Dear Atty. Vlad,

I have been separated from my husband for five years now, however, our marriage has not yet been annulled. In addition, I am not dependent upon him for support. Last week, I got a call from his manager, advising me that he met an accident while working, which resulted in his instantaneous death. After receiving this news, I went to the SSS to claim for the death benefits of my husband. The SSS, however, denied my claim, stating that, I was not a dependent of my spouse. Please help me.

Sofia

Dear Sofia,

From what you stated, you have not been living together with your husband at the time of his death. Apart from this, you were not dependent upon him for support.

In the case of Social Security Commission and Social Security System vs Teresa G. Favila, G.R. 170195, 28 March 2011, the Supreme Court stated:

“This notwithstanding, we still find untenable Teresa’s assertion that being the legal wife, she is presumed dependent upon Florante for support. In Re: Application for Survivor’s Benefits of Manlavi, this Court defined “dependent” as “one who derives his or her main support from another [or] relying on, or subject to, someone else for support; not able to exist or sustain oneself, or to perform anything without the will, power or aid of someone else.” Although therein, the wife’s marriage to the deceased husband was not dissolved prior to the latter’s death, the Court denied the wife’s claim for survivorship benefits from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) because the wife abandoned her family to live with other men for more than 17 years until her husband died. Her whereabouts was unknown to her family and she never attempted to communicate with them or even check up on the well-being of her daughter with the deceased. From these, the Court concluded that the wife during said period was not dependent on her husband for any support, financial or otherwise, hence, she is not a dependent within the contemplation of RA 8291 as to be entitled to survivorship benefits. It is worthy to note that under Section 2(f) RA 8291, a legitimate spouse dependent for support is likewise included in the enumeration of dependents and under Section 2(g), the legal dependent spouse in the enumeration of primary beneficiaries.

Under this premise, we declared in Aguas that “the obvious conclusion is that a wife who is already separated de facto from her husband cannot be said to be ‘dependent for support’ upon the husband, absent any showing to the contrary. Conversely, if it is proved that the husband and wife were still living together at the time of his death, it would be safe to presume that she was dependent on the husband for support, unless it is shown that she is capable of providing for herself.” Hence, we held therein that the wife-claimant had the burden to prove that all the statutory requirements have been complied with, particularly her dependency on her husband at the time of his death. And, while said wife-claimant was the legitimate wife of the deceased, we ruled that she is not qualified as a primary beneficiary since she failed to present any proof to show that at the time of her husband’s death, she was still dependent on him for support even if they were already living separately.”

Considering that you have been you have already been separated in fact from your husband and since you were not dependent upon him for support, you cannot be considered as a primary beneficiary and thus, you are not entitled to the death benefits of your deceased husband.

I hope I was able to enlighten you based on the facts that you shared to me.

Atty. Vlad del Rosario