Total capitalized funds from the personal account represent the personal property of an OMF member. If an OMF member dies before exercising the right to a pension, and family members do not have the right to a family pension according to the Pension Insurance Act, total capitalized funds in the account of the deceased OMF member shall be a subject of inheritance according to the Inheritance Act.
Steps in the process of payment of inheritance from the personal account of a deceased OMF member:
- First step: In the inheritance proceedings, it is necessary to state that the deceased OMF member had funds in the personal account in OMF and to determine who the heirs are and in what proportion they inherit the total capitalized funds from the personal account.
- Second step: After the completion of the inheritance hearing, the notary public or the competent court issues a Decision on Inheritance in which the pillar II funds of the deceased OMF member and the heirs are specified. In order for the funds from the personal account of the deceased OMF member to be paid to the heirs, the Decision on Inheritance must be final.
- Third step: Submission of the Request for Inheritance Payment to REGOS with accompanying documentation attached to the Request (original or certified copy of the final Decision on Inheritance in which the the pillar II funds are specified and the Statement from the bank on the IBAN structure of the heirs' account to which the funds from the personal account of the deceased OMF member should be transferred).
The Request for Inheritance Payment can be submitted in free form, but it must contain all the information contained in the prescribed Request form. The Request for Inheritance Payment form is available on the REGOS website.
The Request for Inheritance Payment has to be signed by the applicant (heir, legal representative, guardian or law firm authorized to represent and receive the inheritance payment). The completed and signed Request for Inheritance Payment with accompanying documentation is submitted to REGOS at the location Gajeva 5, 10 000 Zagreb or at one of the four Pension Information Centers.
Heirs can be natural and legal persons, associations or regional government and self-government (e.g. city, municipality) units. The most common cases in which the heirs are legal persons, associations or regional government and self-government (e.g. city, municipality) units are when an OMF member passes away and has no heir or family members renounce the inheritance because the obligations of the deceased OMF member are greater than her or his property.
The inheritance can be disbursed to the account of the heir or to the account of the law firm authorized by the heir to represent them and receive the inheritance payment.
Exceptionally, the inheritance can be disbursed to the guardian's account for special purposes upon delivery of the Decision of the Social Welfare Center (situation when the heir lacks legal capacity).
If the heir is underage, the Request for Inheritance Payment shall be filled out with the heir’s information and signed by the legal representative/guardian. The rule is that inheritance gets disbursed to minors to an account opened in their name, with a confirmation issued by a commercial bank showing that the account specified in the Request for Inheritance Payment is identical to the account specified on the confirmation from the commercial bank.
Payment of inheritance abroad
Heirs can also be foreign nationals or persons who do not have a place of domicile/residence or an account for the payment of inheritance in the Republic of Croatia. In this case, REGOS can disburse the inheritance to the heir's account opened abroad. Heirs abroad should submit the prescribed documentation, which in that case is identical to the documentation used for the regular inheritance payment procedure.
In the event that the Decision on Inheritance was not issued in the Republic of Croatia, and in order for it to have legal effect, the competent Croatian court has to recognize it as having legal effect in the territory of the Republic of Croatia at the request of the heir, unless otherwise regulated by a law or contract.
Multiple heirs
In the event that multiple heirs inherit funds from the personal account of the deceased member, the Request for Inheritance Payment is submitted for each individual heir, but it is sufficient to submit one copy of the final Decision on Inheritance or will. If all the heirs do not submit Requests for Inheritance Payment, the payment shall be made only to those heirs who submitted the Request.
Processing of requests for inheritance payment
The request for inheritance payment with accompanying documentation is processed in REGOS. The amount of funds disbursed to the heirs depends on the value of the unit of account. Thus, the amount of funds that was recorded in the personal account of the deceased OMF member at the time of the adoption of the Decision on Inheritance does not have to be identical to the amount of funds at the time of inheritance payment. The inheritance disbursement procedure takes 10-12 days after REGOS receives all the necessary documentation.
Inherited funds of the pillar II contributions are not taxable if the heirs are related to the testator in the vertical line. Inheritance between parents and children, grandparents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren is the vertical line of kinship, but inheritance in the lateral line (brothers, sisters, uncles, uncles, etc.) is not exempt from taxation.
If a request for exercising the right to a family pension has been submitted to HZMO but has not yet been brought to an end, while a request for inheritance payment has been submitted to REGOS at the same time, it is necessary to complete the procedure at HZMO first so that REGOS can process the request for inheritance payment. REGOS will process your request for inheritance payment provided that HZMO has not recognized the right to a family generational pension (including the pension insurance pillars I and II).