Luxembourg - Pensions in favour of survivors

This chapter provides information on all you need to know about claiming survivors' pensions.

If the deceased worked and paid social security contributions in another European Union country, the corresponding periods may be taken into account to determine your right to survivors' benefits in Luxembourg.

In what situation can I claim?

In the event of the death of a working insured person (employee) or of the beneficiary of an invalidity or old-age pension, their spouse or legal partner has, in principle, the right to a benefit known as the survivor's pension.

The following are liable to benefit from a survivor's pension:

the surviving spouse (widow or widower);
the surviving partner;
the divorced spouse;
the former partner;
the direct or indirect relatives up to the second degree who lived with the insured person;
orphans.

What conditions do I need to meet?

Conditions prior to allocation

There are several cases in which the spouse or partner of the deceased insured person or beneficiary of the pension may receive a survivor's pension:

no waiting period is required if the deceased insured person was the beneficiary of an old-age or invalidity pension;
in other cases, the deceased is required to have undergone at least 12 continuous months of compulsory insurance over the three years prior to their death;
no waiting period is required if the death is due to an occupational accident or illness.

Conditions for the spouse (or legal partner)

In the event of the death of the insured party, the surviving spouse may claim a survivor's pension if:

the marriage had lasted at least 1 year at the time of the death or after the retirement of the insured party owing to invalidity or age;
the insured party was not the beneficiary of an invalidity or old-age pension at the time of the marriage;

except where the death came as a result of an accident occurring after the marriage or where a child was born or conceived during the marriage.

Conditions for a divorced spouse (or former partner)

A divorced spouse or former partner must not have remarried or entered into a new legal partnership.
The survivor's pension of a divorced spouse is established based on insurance periods completed by the insured spouse during the marriage in relation to the total duration of the insurance periods taken into account.
If, at the time of death of the insured person, there was one (or more) divorced spouse(s) and a current spouse, the survivor's pension will be distributed between the claimants as a proportion of the duration of the various marriages.

Conditions for family members

To be considered as a person treated as the surviving spouse, all of the following conditions must be met:

the person must have lived in cohabitation with the deceased insured party or beneficiary of the pension for at least 5 years before their death;
have been part of their household during the same period;
the insured person or beneficiary of the pension must have contributed a preponderant portion of their support during the same period;
they must be over 40 years of age at the time of death of the insured person or beneficiary of the pension.

Conditions for orphans

Legitimate children have a right to an orphan's pension after the death of either their father or mother, as long as they are not married or engaged in a partnership (unless they are a student).

The orphan's pension is awarded up to the age of 18, and in the event that the person is a student, up to the age of 27.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

How is the pension calculated?

The survivor's pension is equivalent to a portion of the personal pension to which the deceased had a right or to which they would have had a right in the event of invalidity:

Survivor’s pension for Orphan’s

spouse or partner pension

Flat-rate amounts	1	1/3
Proportional amounts	3/4	1/4
Special flat-rate amounts	1	1/3
Special proportional amounts	3/4	1/4

A survivor's pension may come in addition to a professional activity, personal benefits, replacement income or even with another pension. This falls within certain limits.

If the amount of the survivor's pension and the personal income of the beneficiary is above a certain amount, the amount will then be reduced.

Equally, the total of all survivors' pensions may not exceed 100% of the pension (or of the presumed pension) of the deceased. Likewise, it may not be greater than the average of the highest five salaries of the deceased during their period of affiliation. The pensions are reduced proportionally if this is the case.

Please note that the orphan's pension may not be less than EUR 562.53 and the surviving spouse's or partner's pension may not be less than EUR 2,061.25, if the insured person had a full record of 40 years.

For orphans who lost both parents, the pension is double the determined amount.

Survivor's pension claims should be sent to the National Pension Insurance Fund (CNAP).

Jargon busters

National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Pension - CNAP): Body managing all insured persons under the general pension insurance scheme from the private sector.
Legal partner: Partnership (or common law union) shall be understood to mean the domestic cohabitation of two people of either the same or different genders, who live as a couple and who have declared their partnership before a Civil Registrar in the community where their place of domicile is located.
Legitimate children: Legitimate children and children treated as equivalent, including legitimised, adopted, biological children and orphans without father or mother, on the condition that the insured party or the beneficiary of the pension had taken care of the wellbeing and education of said children during the 10 months prior to their death.

Forms you may need to fill in

The form relating to claims for a survivor's pension can be downloaded from the CNAP website.

Know your rights

The links below provide a legal definition of your rights. They are not European Commission websites and they do not represent the views of the Commission:

Commission publications and websites: