André Ventura had already made a video on social networks about a child who fell ill and died whose parents, in his words, did not have money to pay for the funeral. The State did not help. The video is accompanied by the description: “Did you know that the State often refuses to pay for the funeral of children who were institutionalized ‘because they never paid social security’?”

After this video, the Chega leader returned to the topic this Thursday, October 31, at the end of the debate on most of the State Budget project for 2025, which ended up being possible with the abstention of the PS and the votes in favor of the PSD and the CDS (all other parties voted against). In his closing speech, André Ventura spoke again about the Matosinhos association that he visited: “In this association that accompanied children at the door of death, I became aware of something that the different governments of recent decades… The State refuses to pay subsidies to children who die to pay for the funeralbecause I never paid or deducted social security.“he repeated.

Hugo Soares, parliamentary leader of the PSD, took advantage of his visit to the pulpit in his last intervention to respond to André Ventura, even stating that, “as a matter of democratic decency, he wanted to tell the chamber and the deputy André Ventura” that “for As I was able to verify from his intervention, His Honor confused, probably on purpose to confuse the Portuguese, the death benefit and funeral benefit“.

And he explains: “the funeral allowance is a one-time benefit to compensate for the expenses incurred by the funeral of a family member or any other person, including stillbirths. The person who is entitled to the benefit must be a resident of Portugal or equivalent to residents or belong to a country with which Portugal has an agreement for these situations, prove having incurred funeral expenses and not be entitled to the death benefit.” After describing the funeral assignment, Hugo Soares concluded: “If this is true, what you did is absolutely deplorable from a political point of view.”

The statement by the social democratic deputy led André Ventura to ask to speak to refute what, according to him, was an accusation by Hugo Soares of having accused Chega of lying. And he indicated that, on the social security website, it is indicated that “The funeral allowance for children who have just died is equivalent to that of those who have never paid in their lives.“. The conversation ended in Parliament with Hugo Soares stating that, after this statement, “none of what Mr. André Ventura said here was what he said from above.”

With the parliamentary discussion, El Observador verified the various subsidies that exist when there is a death.

funeral allowance

it’s a one-time payment to compensate for the funeral expenses of a family member or another person. Whoever applies for the subsidy must be a resident of Portugal or equivalent to a resident, or belong to a country with which Portugal has an agreement for these situations. Already the deceased must have resided in Portugal and do not discount for Social Security (as is the case with a child). If, on the other hand, you paid Social Security, you already have the right to reimbursement for funeral expenses, which is higher (as we will see below).

It can be granted to any person who can prove that they have had this responsibility, even if they are not a family member.

This subsidy is worth 254.63 euroswhich currently represents 50% of the IAS (social support index, which is a reference value for social benefits).

Reimbursement of funeral expenses

it is also paid immediately who can prove that they paid for the funeral, regardless of whether they are family members. But when the deceased paid Social Security (this is not the case with a child).

It cannot be combined with death benefits. You receive the value of the expenses indicated on the receipt up to the limit of three IAS (currently 1,527.78 euros).

Death benefit

It is similar to the reimbursement of funeral expenses, but it is not the same. The death benefit is paid in a lump sum to family members to offset expenses arising from the death of the beneficiary to “facilitate the reorganization of family life.” The value of the subsidy is 1,527.78 euros (triple the value of the IAS, which is updated annually). And how is this different?

Let’s take an example: if one of the members of a couple dies, the other may be entitled to this death benefit. Imagining that a widow paid the funeral expenses in the amount of 1,600 euros, she receives the death benefit in the amount of 1,527.78 euros, the maximum (in essence, it is as if she received reimbursement for the funeral expenses, but if she requested reimbursement the funeral expenses do not receive a death benefit).

Another example: if the funeral expenses were paid by a third party (a child, for example) and were less than the limit of 1,527.78 euros (let’s imagine they were 1,300 euros), the widow receives 227.78 euros (the difference between the limit maximum and the value of funeral expenses). Funeral expenses are paid to this third party, through the so-called reimbursement.

In addition to the spouse or ex-spouse, people in a civil union, descendants up to the age of 18 (or older in some cases) or parents/grandparents/great-grandparents are entitled to receive this benefit, but only if they are dependent on the deceased. That is to say, returning to the case of André Ventura, this subsidy could not be attributed to the child’s parents since, naturally, they would not depend on the child and the child did not contribute to Social Security.

Do not confuse this subsidy with the survivor pensionwhich is paid monthly to compensate family members for the loss of employment income resulting from your death.

Does this mean that the State does not even pay funeral subsidies to children who die?

No. The parents of a deceased child who resided in Portugal are entitled to death benefits, but for a lower amount (which does not reach 300 euros) than other types of aid. If the deceased was someone who already had Social Security deductions, the amount of aid to cover funeral expenses would be higher (a maximum close to 1,500 euros).