As of: March 18, 2024, 5:14 a.m
By: Christoph Gschoßmann
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Who is entitled to a widow's pension and what needs to be taken into account?
An important factor is the age of the applicant.
Bremen – The widow’s or widower’s pension in Germany – who is entitled to it and how does it work?
We have summarized the most important facts.
Who is entitled to the widow's pension?
Anyone who was married to their spouse or life partner until their death is entitled to a widow's pension.
The marriage or civil partnership must have lasted at least one year.
An important exception here is the type of death: in the event of an accident (excluding accidents at work), there is no entitlement to a pension.
The prerequisite is that the deceased has completed the minimum insurance period of five years (exception: accidents at work or has already reached retirement age).
In addition, the applicant must not have remarried.
Men can also receive a widow's pension.
© Kantaruk Agnieszka/Imago
Small widow's pension: Applicant younger than 47 years
Age is crucial: Anyone who is younger than 47, not disabled, and not raising a child should apply for the small widow's pension.
This amounts to 25 percent of the pension due to total disability or the pension of the deceased.
The German pension insurance pays at the earliest two years after the death of the partner.
Important: Anyone who married before 2002 and was born before January 2, 1962 will receive an unlimited small widow's pension under the old model.
Large widow's pension: Applicant is 47 years older and younger
The large widow's pension applies to people who have already reached the age of 47.
This is also relevant if you are already raising your own child or a shared child (under 18 or at any age if disabled) of the deceased.
If you die before January 1, 2029, the large widow's pension will be paid earlier - if you die in 2023, for example, from the age of 46.
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With the large widow's pension, you receive 55 percent of the deceased's pension.
Here too there is the “old model” (born before January 2, 1962), which increases the pension to 60 percent.
The pension is paid out at the earliest in the month following death if the deceased was already receiving a pension, otherwise immediately.
How much is the widow's pension?
There is currently an allowance of 992.64 euros per month (increase per child by 210.56 euros), which is linked to the current pension value.
This allowance is 26.4 times the pension value, plus the increase amount of 5.6 times the pension value.
If the net pension exceeds the exemption amount, the pension insurance will deduct 40 percent of the excess amount from your pension.
An example: With a net pension of 1,200 euros per month (without children), the pension exceeds the tax-free amount by 207.36 euros.
Because 40 percent of this is 82.94 euros, the widow's pension falls by this amount.
What is the death quarter?
In the three months following the month of death, the deceased's full pension entitlement is paid out.
Your own income is not taken into account.
Marry again or pension spitting: in this case there is no longer a widow's pension
Anyone who gets married no longer receives a widow's pension in the month after the wedding took place.
At least you can receive a pension settlement if you remarry.
This amounts to two annual amounts of the widow's pension.
Even with pension splitting, you don't get a widow's pension.
What happens to the widow's pension in the event of a divorce?
Anyone who gets divorced generally does not receive a widow's pension.
But there are exceptions.
If the marriage was divorced before July 1, 1977 and the applicant did not remarry and also received maintenance before death, the deceased completed the minimum insurance period, was already receiving a pension or died due to an accident at work.
Many people want to make provisions in the event of death.
The question arises: funeral benefit or term life insurance?
We explain what the difference is.
(cgsc)