ROUTE

Survivor pension in Germany: widow and orphan pension

Which pension the surviving spouse and children receive, why the first three and the last twelve months matter, and how your own income is offset.

✓ Checked: 11/08/2026

The Hinterbliebenenrente is the statutory pension paid on a death: a widow or widower pension and an orphan pension for the children. It is not granted automatically — the pension insurance waits for an application and pays retroactively for at most twelve months before the month of application. The amount does not depend on how long the marriage lasted but on three things: which pension applies, which period you are in, and how much you earn yourself. The first three months after the month of death are calculated at a higher factor, after which income offsetting begins.

1

STEP

Check which survivor pension applies

German law distinguishes the small and the large widow or widower pension. The difference is not the contributions of the deceased but the age, children and earning capacity of the surviving spouse.
2

STEP

File the application in good time

A survivor pension is not granted automatically. Backdated payment reaches twelve months before the month of application at most, and the first three months are calculated at a higher factor.
3

STEP

Understand how your own income is offset

After the first three months your own income reduces the pension. The mechanism is fixed: an exempt amount, an addition per child, and forty per cent of the remainder.
4

STEP

Compare with pension splitting and factor in remarriage

The widow pension is not the only route. The law allows a split of pension entitlements instead, and on remarriage the pension is bought out with a one-off sum.
5

STEP

Sort out tax, contributions and reporting duties

The pension is running — three things remain: tax on it, health insurance contributions, and the duty to report changes, which is where most repayment demands come from.

COSTS AND DEADLINES

Deadlines you cannot miss

Small widow or widower pension for a maximum of 24 calendar months after the end of the month of deathCheck which survivor pension applieshard deadline
Backdated payment for no more than twelve calendar months before the month of applicationFile the application in good timehard deadline

Amounts follow official fees as of each step’s verification date. Your city may charge a different rate — check the step itself.

› More about this route

This route takes the whole picture apart: what separates the small from the large pension and why one of them is capped at two years, how to read the age table and what applies where a marriage lasted under a year, how the application works and what to attach, the mechanism by which your own salary is offset, how pension splitting differs from a widow pension and when it is possible at all, what happens on remarriage, and which duties remain after the award — tax, health contributions and reporting. We do not calculate your amount and do not assess your situation: the route shows how the procedure is built and where money is lost silently.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

All possible documents for this route

WHERE PEOPLE MOST OFTEN LOSE MONEY AND TIME

Postponing the application for a year or more. Backdating is limited to twelve calendar months before the month of application — the rest is simply not paid.
Not reporting increased income or a new marriage. The recalculation comes anyway, but then as a demand to repay past months.
Waiting for the small pension to turn into the large one. After 24 months it simply ends, and the new entitlement has to be applied for separately.
Carrying out pension splitting without a comparison calculation. Afterwards there is no widow pension entitlement, and any award already made is revoked from that month.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ROUTE

Who is this route for?▾

For the surviving spouse or civil partner of someone covered by the statutory pension scheme, and for parents applying on behalf of children. Where the deceased was a civil servant or paid into a professional pension body, a separate set of rules applies.

How does this differ from inheritance and from private life insurance?▾

An inheritance covers the assets and debts of the deceased and passes in one go. Private insurance pays out under a contract concluded beforehand. A survivor pension is part of neither the estate nor a contract: it is a social entitlement of the survivor in their own right.

Does it matter whether the surviving spouse worked?▾

Not for the entitlement, yes for the amount. After the first three months your own income is offset by a fixed mechanism, and only part of the amount above the exempt threshold counts, not the whole income.

What applies if the deceased worked in several countries?▾

Periods in other states of the European Union, the European Economic Area and Switzerland are taken into account under the coordination rules, and the application runs through the German pension insurance. For offsetting, the statute expressly covers the case where the same income has already reduced a comparable pension abroad.

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