The surviving spouse’s income can decrease the spouse’s pension or cause a decision to be made whereby no spouse’s pension is paid.
The surviving spouse’s income in this case includes
- the surviving spouse’s own earnings-related pension
- the notional earnings-related pension, if the surviving spouse has not retired.
The notional earnings-related pension equals the sum of the earnings-related pensions that the surviving spouse would receive if he or she were unfit for work. The surviving spouse’s average earned income may be used instead if it is at least one quarter smaller than the notional earnings-related pension. This earnings-based spouse’s pension calculation needs to be applied for separately and the spouse’s pension calculated using this method will be paid as long as the surviving spouse’s earned income remains at the above-mentioned level.
When does the spouse’s pension reduction begin?
If there are children in the family that receive a child’s pension, a reduction will be made on the spouse’s pension only once the youngest child has turned 18.
If there are no children receiving a child’s pension and the surviving spouse does not receive his or her own earnings-related pension, the reduction is carried out six months after the death of the deceased. Until then the spouse’s pension is paid in full as an initiative amount.
When the surviving spouse is granted an earnings-related pension (other than part-time pension) the reduction on the spouse’s pension is recalculated.
If the surviving spouse has turned 65 or receives his or her own earnings-related pension, the reduction is implemented from the start of the spouse’s pension.Example of reductions in spouse’s pension
Example if the deceased died in 2010:
The deceased spouse’s pension was 1,500 euro/month and the surviving spouse’s pension 1,000 euro/month.The notional spouse’s pension is half of the deceased spouse’s pension, i.e. 750 euro/month.The spouse’s pension payable equals 557.75 euro/month.
