In case of applicant’s death

If an individual has passed away after having been approved for the Polish pension, he or she must notify ZUS, the Polish national social insurance agency.

As of the last update of this page noted below, the procedure is to both email and send via international post a certified copy of the beneficiary’s death certificate to ZUS.
You can either do this yourself or send the death certificate to us, and we will take care of sending it to Poland both through email and via international post.

If you wish to notify Poland yourself:

  1. You may send an email to ZUS at wrum@zus.pl.
    Please attach a copy of the official death certificate.
    The body of the email should explain that the deceased beneficiary was receiving a quarterly allowance from ZUS and that the death certificate is attached.
  2. You can then send the death certificate to ZUS with a cover letter.
    Samples of cover letters you can use are linked below.
    The address where the certificate and cover letter should be sent is on the letter.
    The Polish versions will open with fillable fields in Word format.
    Letter notifying ZUS of pension recipient’s death:  English | Polish (male) | Polish (female)

If you wish that we notify Poland on your behalf:

Please send us a copy of the death certificate at contact@polishpensionhelp.org.
We will then arrange for you to send us the official copy which we will mail to ZUS.

Unrealized benefits

If a beneficiary passes away before the quarterly payment date, his or her heirs are entitled to what ZUS calls “unrealized benefits.” These are the payments for the months within the quarter in which the beneficiary was alive, including the month in which the beneficiary died. You can read more about unrealized benefits and how heirs can apply here.

Updated March 1, 2024