SSNIT survivors benefit: checking your nominated dependants and how to claim

When a SSNIT member dies, the survivors lump sum goes to the dependants the member nominated - or to dependants named through the law or the courts. Who qualifies, how to claim, and how to check and update a nomination.

By Ernest · 23 October 2026

What the survivors benefit is

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) pays a Survivors Lump Sum Benefit to the nominated dependant(s) of a member who dies in service or on retirement. A pensioner who dies before age 75 under Act 766 (or 72 under PNDC Law 247) leaves nominated dependants a survivors lump sum. SSNIT says the scheme ignores pre-existing medical conditions and assumes the mortality risk - it works as insurance, not a savings account.

To qualify, the member needs 12 months of contributions in aggregate within the 36 months before death, and the dependant must have been nominated by the member - or determined through the law or the courts.

Why the nomination matters - and how to update it

A social security nomination is how a member tells SSNIT who should receive their entitlements after death. SSNIT says a nomination can be changed as often as the member wants - but any change is only valid once the form is in SSNIT's custody. A completed form sitting at home does not count.

• Fill a Membership Update Form, available at any SSNIT branch office
• Have it endorsed by an employer and/or a public servant
• Return it to SSNIT - the update is only valid once SSNIT holds it

If a member dies without a nomination, SSNIT says dependants may apply to the courts for succession law to be applied to distribute the benefit - a slower and less certain route. SSNIT also says that where a deceased member did not provide for his spouse and children, they may apply to the court for consideration in how the benefit is distributed. Ghana's statute for estates without a will is the Intestate Succession Law, 1985 (PNDCL 111).

How dependants claim

Family members of a deceased member - spouse, adult children or extended family - report the death to the nearest SSNIT branch with any one of these as evidence:

• Death certificate
• Medical certificate of cause of death
• Letter from the deceased member's employer (if the person died in service)
• Letters of Administration
• Letter from a religious leader
• Affidavit from the chief of the village or town where the deceased resided
• Police or coroner's report

SSNIT says applicants may add an obituary poster, funeral programme, mortuary report or burial permit to any one of these. After the death is confirmed, nominated dependants are contacted to show photo ID, complete application forms and provide bank account details; payment is made into each beneficiary's own bank account.

Good to know

This article summarises SSNIT's own public guidance. Individual claims are assessed by SSNIT - for a specific case, contact your nearest SSNIT branch office.