Every day, an expert from the T-Online Councilor editorial team answers a reader question about money. Today: Is the widow’s pension recalculated when the income changes?
If you get a widow or widower’s pension and still work yourself, you usually only get a shortened payment. But what happens when the surviving dependent himself retires? Is the widow’s pension then recalculated – and may it increase?
This is asks a T-online reader who wants to know how his wife would be secured in the event of his death: “My wife is still working so that she would now get a small widow’s pension. Is the widow’s pension recalculated if she retires herself?”
Yes. For most surviving people, the beginning of your own retirement pension means that the height of your widow’s pension changes. Because as a rule, the retirement income is lower than during working life. This is taken into account in the so -called income compensation, and the widow’s pension can increase. Read here how your own pension is counted towards the survivor’s pension.
Thank you for your question.You received an email from us.
In principle, the income to be billed is regularly checked for ongoing survivors on July 1st of each year. In these cases, the pension insurance sends the R0600 form with which current income conditions are queried. Read here which income everyone is taken into account.
However, there is also the possibility to apply for an immediate recalculation. This is possible if your wife’s income decreases by at least 10 percent, for example when the employment relationship is transferred. In this case, the widow’s pension can be recalculated from the month in which the lower income is paid for the first time. The basis for this is Section 18b (3) SGB IV (Social Code (SGB) Fourth Book (IV)).
Specifically, if your wife only gets old -age pension from a certain month and if this is at least 10 percent below the previous gross income from the job, she can apply for a direct recalculation – without having to wait for next July.
Good to know: When we answered, we assumed that the reader, called “Little Witwen Rente”, means a low widow’s pension. In fact, the small widow’s pension is also available as a technical term in the statutory pension insurance – in contrast to the large widow’s pension.
The small widow’s pension usually receive survivors for a maximum of 24 months and only if they are younger than 47 years (at the time of death from 2029) and are not disabled and do not raise children. In principle, it is 25 percent of a pension due to full disability or the retirement pension that her partner received or received at the time of death.
An exception applies if you got married before 2002 and one of the partners was born before January 2, 1962. Then the “old law” applies to you, and the small widow’s pension is paid without a time limit.
The large widow’s pension is always paid indefinitely as soon as you have reached a certain age at the time of the death of the partner or are disabled or a child under the age of 18. In 2025 they must be at least 46 years and four months old, at least 47 years from 2029.
The large widow’s pension is basically 55 percent of the pension that your partner has received or moved into. If the “old law” takes place (see above), the survivor’s pension is 60 percent of the deceased partner’s pension claims.
