Member of the Seimas, Social Democrat Liudas Jonaitis, together with other parliamentarians, registered improved amendments to the Law on Support in the event of death, which propose to increase the funeral allowance from 8 to 16 basic social benefits (BSI).
According to L. Jonaitis, who prepared the project, after a significant increase in the prices of goods and services, the money allocated by the state for burial is not enough. According to him, families are facing significant financial difficulties, as funeral costs average around 1,700-2,000 euros.
“Such an amount ensures a respectful farewell to the deceased,” says L. Jonaitis.
According to him, in 10 years, the funeral allowance increased only from 312 to 440 euros, a total of 128 euros.
Member of the Seimas L. Jonaitis proposes that the amendments to the law on support in the event of death come into force on January 1, 2025. Together with him, they are submitted by Seimas members Orinta Leiputė, Julius Sabatauskas, Vigilijus Jukna, Stasys Tumėnas, Rima Baškienė, Antanas Čepononis and other parliamentarians.
The Law Department of the Chancellery of the Seimas, which evaluated the project, believes that the Government’s conclusion should be obtained regarding the proposed amendments to the law, as their implementation will require additional funds from the state budget.
Currently, the funeral allowance in Lithuania is equal to 8 basic social benefits (440 euros). This amount was set in June 2011 and has not been revised to date, only indexed after the annual change in the BSI amount.
Upon the death of a person of retirement age, 2 deceased person’s pensions and targeted compensation are also paid, if special needs.
As ELTA has already announced, on June 20 of this year 37 members of the Seimas voted for the amendments to the law proposing to increase the funeral allowance, 6 were against, and 48 abstained. The project was returned to the initiator for improvement by consensus. Politicians who spoke out against increasing the funeral allowance called for more responsible thinking about the use of public money.
2024-08-27 14:01:27