How to increase the military pension?

Part 4 of Article 63 of the Law of Ukraine "On pension provision of persons discharged from military service and certain other persons" stipulates that the recalculation of pensions occurs when the monetary provision of the relevant categories of military personnel increases. This also applies to other pensioners, who are subject to the aforementioned normative legal act. Recalculation of the pension takes place on the terms and in the amounts determined by the Cabinet of Ministers. If the pension becomes lower after the recalculation, it is left at the previous level. These and other issues, which are at the intersection of the fields of military and pension law, become frequent topics for appeals to the Prikhodko & Partners law office. Recalculation of pensions is indeed one of the topics in which we specialize.

How can you increase your pension?

The most common way to increase a military pension is to recalculate it based on a certificate of financial support as of March 5, 2019. You need to take the appropriate certificate of financial security and deal with the issue. It is best if you do this together with a lawyer who specializes in such topics. The fact is that applying to the Pension Fund for the purpose of recalculation does not yield results. So the pensioner gets a refusal. But this stage is necessary before going to court. So, in court, you will have a sufficient argument that you tried to resolve the issue with the PF directly, but its representatives responded with a written refusal.

Sometimes it happens that, dealing with this issue on their own, pensioners stop halfway because they are faced with the fact that PF representatives refuse to recalculate their pension. However, court practice shows that cases in the order of administrative proceedings on pension recalculation are successful.

By the way, it is worth knowing that if the pension has already been recalculated based on the financial support certificate as of March 5, 2019, then the military pension can be increased by recalculating the pension based on the financial support certificate, starting in 2020. Unfortunately, there are problems with receiving them.

What is the mechanism for increasing (recalculating) the military pension?

As you have already understood, the new amount of the pension is tied to the content of the updated certificate of financial support. And obtaining such certificates, in turn, is associated with an increase in the subsistence minimum. It is he who is taken as a basis when calculating the salary for the position and the salary for the title.

Currently, certificates can be obtained only until 2024. Since May 2023, changes have been made to Resolution № 704 of the Cabinet of Ministers, which is one of the important legal acts regulating this issue. So the government officials established a living wage in the amount of 1,762 hryvnias.

If we talk about increasing the pension in practice, then, starting from 2020, to obtain certificates, you need to go to court. It usually takes 1-2 courts. As for pension transfer, it is also carried out by court decision.

How will the services of the law office "Prikhodko & Partners" be useful?

In requests related to the increase of the military pension, we offer full support, which includes:

• an application to the authorized body for a certificate of the amount of financial support (followed by a refusal to produce it, but it is important to receive such an answer officially, as this is an argument for the court);
• appeal to the court for relevant certificates (the case goes to 1-2 courts);
• obtaining certificates for the execution of court decisions;
• applying to the PFU for recalculation of the pension based on the certificates received (here, again, a refusal awaits, but it must be documented in order to move on);
• appeal to the court for recalculation of pension.

Even when the court decision is already in favor of the plaintiff, sometimes representatives of the Pension Fund delay its implementation. However, a lawyer's request regarding the execution of a court decision provides an opportunity to move the situation from a dead end, because it is required to respond to it within the time limits provided by law.

Lawyers of the "Prikhodko & Partners" law firm will effectively help you achieve a pension transfer, as we have extensive successful experience in such cases. Apply!