From March 28, new regulations regarding the payment of a one-time monetary aid of 15 million hryvnias, which will affect the families of military personnel, will come into force. The changes were introduced under draft law 3515-IX, which was signed by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, at the end of December. According to information from "We — Ukraine", the innovations will concern family relations and the distribution of benefits.
According to the current legislation on the social protection of military personnel, parents, one of the spouses who has not entered into a new marriage, minor children and dependents can receive one-time cash assistance. It is noted that the new law specifies some aspects of family relations, namely, regarding the receipt of payments in the amount of 15 million hryvnias for various categories of family members of fallen servicemen.
The following categories of persons will be involved in receiving payments:
- Children, including adopted children, born after the death of a soldier or conceived during his lifetime.
- One of the surviving spouses of the servicemember (deceased), including widows and widowers. The new rule cancels the requirement that the second spouse does not remarry.
- Parents or adoptive parents, if they were not deprived of parental rights in relation to the deceased serviceman, or the deprivation of rights was restored at the time of death.
- Grandchildren, if the parents of the grandchildren died before the death or death of the serviceman.
- A woman or a man who lived together with the deceased in the same family, without being married, or in any other marriage (this issue is decided by the court).
- Dependents of a military serviceman.
These innovations are aimed at improving the support system for families of fallen servicemen and take into account various aspects of family status.
There are categories of persons who cannot count on receiving a one-time cash benefit. Currently, according to the new changes, these categories include citizens of Russia and Belarus, as well as persons permanently residing in Russia or Belarus. Additionally, payments are not provided for persons convicted of treason, collaboration and aiding and abetting an aggressor.
One-time assistance will also not be provided if the death or death of a person is the result of his committing a criminal or administrative offense, acting while intoxicated or intentionally causing injury, including suicide.
In addition, according to changes in the legislation, payments will not be awarded if the person claiming assistance has committed an offense against the deceased or the deceased and has been held administratively or criminally liable by a court decision. This applies to situations that have arisen after the entry into force of the law.
In addition, the payment of assistance may be refused or suspended in cases where the court determines the fact of evading the obligation to support the deceased or the deceased during his lifetime.
The new law introduces the concept of "disposition of a military serviceman" regarding the distribution of one-time cash benefits in the event of the death of a serviceman. According to the current legislation, OGD must be distributed among family members and dependents who are entitled to it, upon their application or the application of their legal representatives.
From now on, the military can draw up an order in which it is determined who will receive OGD in the event of their death. This document must be certified by the commander or a notary public. The military has the option of setting percentages for each OGD recipient, but a portion of the benefit will still be distributed among certain family members, such as minor children, adult disabled children, disabled widow or widower, and disabled parents.
According to the new definitions approved by the law, these persons have the right to 50% of the share of OGD that they would have received if there was no personal order of the serviceman.
It should be noted that the adopted state budget for 2024 provides for an increase in minimum payments for the main social and demographic groups of the population. In addition, the government has extended all payments for internally displaced persons for another month, but from March 1 will change the rules for receiving this assistance, making it available only to the most vulnerable categories of internally displaced persons.
