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German widow's or widower's pension — pension-type factor, first three months and income test

For the three months following the month of death the pension is paid with a factor of 1.0 and no income test. After that it is 55% (large) or 25% (small widow's pension) of the deceased's pension, and 40% of your own net income above 26.4 times the current pension value is deducted.

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Sources and assumptions

Calculation assumptions

  • Entitlement itself is assumed: the deceased met the general qualifying period, you have not remarried, the marriage lasted at least a year and — for the large pension — you are raising a child, have reduced earning capacity or have reached the age set by SGB VI s. 242a(5).
  • The deceased's personal pension points are an input, including the access factor and any credited period; they are shown on the pension notice or pension forecast.
  • Income is entered as a monthly amount; the flat-rate reductions of SGB IV s. 18b(5) are applied to employment income, self-employed income and your own statutory pension.
  • Civil-service pay, occupational and private pensions, investment income and other income with its own reduction rate must be entered already reduced as other net income; the order of priority between several survivors' pensions is not handled.

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This result is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute personalised tax advice. Check your situation with the tax authorities or a professional.