More than 90.8 million AMD in pension savings belonging to deceased Armenian citizens has been transferred to the state budget over the past five years, with families often unaware that the funds existed or that proceedings had been initiated to declare them heirless, according to an October 31 investigation by Hetq.

Under Armenia’s Law on Funded Pensions, if a deceased person’s accumulated pension savings remain unclaimed for three years, the Central Depository notifies the Finance Ministry, which can apply to a court to have the funds declared heirless and transferred to the state budget.

However, the law does not require authorities to identify or notify potential heirs before initiating proceedings, meaning families can lose access to inherited savings without ever knowing they were entitled to them.

According to Hetq, the Finance Ministry submitted 119 applications in 2021, 319 in 2022, 87 in 2025, and another 128 by October 8, 2026. No applications were filed in 2023 or 2024.

The investigation documented cases involving families who were unaware of the deceased persons’ pension accounts, including relatives of 22-year-old rescuer Samvel Develyan, who died while fighting a wildfire in 2019, and 19-year-old Lyonik Herkoyan, who died in a motorcycle accident.

Although courts frequently approved the ministry’s applications, Judge Nelli Harutyunyan rejected six requests, ruling that failure to claim pension savings did not establish that the deceased had no legal heirs.

Lawyer Haykaz Galstyan also questioned the legality of declaring pension assets heirless solely because no claim had been submitted, arguing that authorities must first establish whether legitimate heirs exist.

According to Galstyan, heirs excluded from the proceedings can challenge court judgments within three months of learning about them, subject to a 20-year limit.

The findings highlight a legal process under which the Finance Ministry can obtain deceased citizens’ accumulated pension savings without first establishing whether rightful heirs exist or ensuring their families have been notified.