Faced with the loss of a spouse, the pain and the loss of bearings are immense and disrupt daily life. With the shock of this disappearance, the worry following the loss of an income is added to the many changes of life. To overcome this delicate financial situation, you have the possibility of requesting a survivor’s pension, provided for the surviving spouse. But can you request it when your spouse dies before retirement?
To benefit from the survivor’s pension, you must have been married to your spouse. This pension is not paid automatically: you must submit an application, which will be examined and then validated. For information, the survivor’s pension represents 54% of the deceased’s basic pension. Increases of around 10% may apply depending on the dependent children or the age of the full rate.
An age threshold is set for the survivor’s pension: you must have reached the age of 55 (or more) to be eligible for payment. Before this limit, it is not possible for you to submit an application file. A certain amount of resources not to be exceeded is also set up. For the 2023 quarterly ceilings, the maximum is set at 5860.40 euros for a single person and 9376.64 euros for a couple. It is, in fact, possible for you to apply for a survivor’s pension, even if you are once again in a relationship.
Open to both men and women, the right to a survivor’s pension also exists when the spouse dies before retirement. To do this, you must complete your application file within 12 months of his death. In the event of affiliation to the general scheme, the scale of 54% of the amount of the pension remains applicable. For example, if your spouse were to receive a pension of 1500 euros, you could receive 810 euros.
As when a spouse dies after retiring, the conditions for allocation remain the same with a minimum threshold of 55 years for the surviving spouse and resources not to be exceeded. If your deceased spouse has already been married and his former partners request it, you will have to share the survivor’s pension in proportion to the duration of the marriage.
In the case of supplementary pensions, in particular Agirc-Arrco, the conditions are subject to some modifications. If the scale for 55 years remains the same, you can receive the survivor’s pension before this age if you have two dependent children at the time of death or if your spouse is disabled. It is also necessary not to have been remarried to be able to receive this survivor’s pension.
The supplementary survivor’s pension corresponds to 60% of the amount of the supplementary pension of the deceased spouse. Increases exist for dependent children and children born or brought up. At the same time, you should find out about the possibility of reductions that apply depending on the age of death, as well as the number of quarters missing to obtain a full pension.
