Pensions, what to do when the pensioner dies and who is responsible for reporting the death to INPS?

Also ... what are the risks in case of failure to communicate?

At the outcome of the hearing held on May 12, 2021, the VI Criminal Section of the Court of Cassazione examined the following question and that is "whether the crime referred to in art 316-ter cod. pen. (undue receipt of disbursements to the detriment of the State) in the event that the person with the current account on which the pension of his or her spouse is credited does not communicate the death to the social security institution and continues to receive pension accruals ".

According to what emerges from the provisional information issued by the News Service of the Supreme Court, the VI Section - in a different sense from some precedents of legitimacy - gave a negative solution to the question, stating that "the omission of information due because not provided. The law 27 December 2002 n. 289 introduced the obligation for municipal registries to transmit death notices online to INPS, so that it is no longer necessary for private citizens to deliver paper death certificates to INPS offices. Similarly, art. 1 law 23 December 2014 n. 190 established the obligation for necropsy doctors to send the certificate of ascertainment of death online to INPS within 48 hours of the event. On this basis, the INPS, after reporting the death, automatically identifies the person in its archives and makes the necessary changes relating to the pension ".

The question is of particular relevance if it is taken into account that defining who is responsible for communicating the death to INPS is decisive to the extent that, should it be deemed that this obligation falls to the heirs, in the event of an omission, an indictment could result for the crime of undue receipt of disbursement to the detriment of the State.

Well, the sentence of the Supreme Court has shown a change of course.

As emerged from the provisional information, the heirs have no obligation to notify the INPS of the death and, consequently, nothing can be reproached to them in the event of silence. It is no longer the relatives of the deceased who have to report the death to INPS, but the municipal registry offices and the necropsy doctor. However, this does not prevent the family member from sending the certificate of death of the pensioner to INPS..