This chapter will explain what you need to know about a survivor's pension.

This chapter covers:

• survivor's pension for a widow/widower/cohabitating partner/ same-sex partner/divorced spouse (obiteljska mirovina za udovicu/udovca/izvanbračnog partnera/neformalnog životnog partnera/rastavljenog bračnog druga) ;
• survivor's pension for a child (obiteljska mirovina za dijete);
• survivor's pension for a parent (obiteljska mirovina za roditelja)
• request for partial survivor's pension (zahtjev za isplatu dijela obiteljske mirovine)

In what situation can I claim?

Family members of the deceased insured person are entitled to a survivor's person if the deceased had at least 5 years of pensionable service or at least 10 years of pension qualifying period, or if the insured person fulfilled the qualifying period for an invalidity pension or was already receiving an old-age, early or invalidity pension, or was exercising their right to professional rehabilitation.

If the death of the insured person was caused by an accident at work or an occupation disease, family members are entitled to a survivor's pension regardless of the length of the pension qualifying period completed by the insured person.

If the deceased did not work full-time, this working time is recognised as full-time for meeting the condition of the qualifying period for the right to a survivor's pension under the Labour Act.

What conditions do I need to meet?

Family members of the deceased insured person (see Jargon busters) or retiree are entitled to a survivor's pension. It is based on the right of family members to maintenance by the deceased.

A family member who intentionally caused the death of an insured person or pension beneficiary and who has been legally convicted to serve a prison sentence for the crime is not entitled.

A widow, widower, cohabitating partner (if the cohabitation lasted at least 3 years, and is proven in extrajudicial proceedings) and same-sex partner (if partnership lasted at least 3 years proven in non-contentious proceedings )are entitled to a survivor's pension if they had reached 50 years of age at the time of the death of the married/cohabitating partner/same-sex partner. If they are under 50 years of age, they are entitled to a survivor's pension if they are unable to work and this incapacity occurred within 1 year of the death of the married spouse.

However, if at the time of death of the married spouse they have reached 45 years of age, they are entitled to a survivor's pension when they turn 50 years old. They retain this right permanently after 50 years of age.

They are also entitled to a survivor's pension if they are the parent of a child or children who are entitled to a survivor's pension and care. If they become incapable of working while still entitled they remain entitled to a survivor's pension as long as the incapacity lasts.

Cohabitants or partners, as well as same-sex partners are entitled to a survivor’s pension if the cohabitation/same-sex partnership existed at the earliest on March 28 2008 and lasted for at least 3 years.

A widow is entitled to a survivor's pension even when the child of the insured person is born after his death. In this case, entitlement to a survivor's pension begins on the date of the insured person's death.

A divorced spouse is entitled to a survivor's pension if a court decides they are entitled to spousal maintenance.

Family members are entitled to a survivor’s pension if cohabitation/marriage existed at the earliest on August 5 2014 and lasted for at least 3 years. The status of partnership is determined in a non-litigious court proceeding.

A child is entitled to a survivor's pension if under 15 years old at the time of the death of a parent, or 18 years old if unemployed. If a child is in full-time education, the entitlement lasts up to the age of 26, or longer in the case of illness.

A child who becomes incapacitated for work up to the age of entitlement to a survivor's pension or afterwards (if maintained by the deceased), remains entitled as long as the incapacity lasts. Exceptionally, a disabled child with residual work capacity who started working before the death of a parent is also entitled to a survivor's pension after the death of a parent and does not lose the right to the pension, but the payment of is suspended during the period of employment.

Children born out of wedlock and adopted children have the same rights.

A parent of the deceased who was maintained by them (or by a beneficiary) before they died is entitled to a family pension if they are aged 60 or older or if they are younger than this and fully incapacitated for work.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Entitlement to a survivor's pension

The entitlement is permanent for a widow/widower/cohabitating partner/divorced spouse; child; parent, unless the beneficiary marries, under certain conditions stepchildren, grandchildren, parents, life-time partner, a child of a deceased partner.

A survivor's pension after the death of the active insured person is calculated as a percentage of the invalidity pension to which the deceased would have been entitled, according to the number of family members:

• for one beneficiary: 77% of the pension;
• for two beneficiaries: 88% of the pension;
• for three beneficiaries: 100% of the pension;
• for four beneficiaries: 110% of the pension.

For family members of a deceased insured person under 55 years of age or with less than 10 years of qualifying period in the capitalized pension scheme, the survivor's pension is calculated as if the insured person had been insured only under statutory pension scheme.

You can claim a survivor's pension by submitting an application to the regional office of the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO).

If your place of permanent residence is outside Croatia, the regional office in the place where you were last insured is competent for dealing with your claim.

The right to a survivor's pension may be acquired no earlier than the first day of the following month after the death of the insured person.

If a widow/widower is entitled to more than one pension (for example, you can be entitled to an old-age pension or invalidity pension as well as a survivor's pension), they may choose the most favourable, i.e. the higher pension.

You can receive a part of the survivor's pension together with a person's old age, early age or disability pension once such person is 65 years of age.  The part of the survivor's pension amounts to 27 % of the survivor's pension determined for one family member, with the prescribed minimum (3 actual pension values) and maximum amount (the total of a personal pension and a part of the survivor's pension may not exceed 80 actual pension values).

Jargon busters

• Insured person - an individual who on the basis of work activities (employment contract, self-employment, etc.) is mandatorily insured within statutory pension scheme.

Forms you may need to fill in

• Application for claiming a survivor's pension
• Application for claiming a partial survivor´s pension.

Know your rights

You can find out about your legal rights at the links below. They are not European Commission websites and do not represent the views of the Commission:

• Pension Insurance Act;
• Mandatory Pension Funds Act;
• Pension Insurance Companies Act;
• Labour Act;
• https://migracije.hr/survivors-pension-2/?lang=en.

Commission publications and websites:

• Death grants: your rights as an EU citizen in other EU countries.

Who do you need to contact?

Croatian Pension Insurance Institute
A. Mihanovica 3
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
http://www.mirovinsko.hr/default.aspx?id=4298

Central Registry of Affiliates
(only for 2nd pillar pension)
Gajeva 5
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
http://regos.hr/default.aspx?id=207

Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy
Ulica grada Vukovara 78
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
https://mrosp.gov.hr/