Survivor's pension
The survivor's pension and the transitional allowance for the next of kin of deceased employees
The survivor's pension and the transitional allowance are a pension and an allowance for the next of kin after a decease.
You want to find out who can receive a survivor's pension? Or you want to find out who can receive a transitional allowance?
Here you will find all information on the calculation of these amounts for the next of kin of deceased employees.
On this page:
- How are the survivor's pension and the transitional allowance calculated?
- What happens if the amount of my survivor's pension is low?
- Which elements influence the amount of my survivor's pension?
How are the survivor's pension and the transitional allowance calculated?
The Pensions Service calculates your survivor's pension or transitional allowance on the basis of the career as employee of your deceased spouse:
- the calculation of the survivor's pension differs depending on whether or not your deceased spouse was retired at the moment of his or her passing.
- the calculation of the transitional allowance is always the same: it follows the same rules as those for the calculation of the survivor's pension when the deceased spouse was not yet retired.
My deceased spouse was already retired
Your survivor's pension amounts to 80 % of the retirement pension at the household rate of your deceased spouse.
My deceased spouse was not yet retired or I receive a transitional allowance
We calculate your survivor's pension or transitional allowance on the basis of your deceased spouse's career.
We apply the same calculation rules as for the retirement pension, but we take the untimely decease of your spouse into account for the career duration. We do so as follows:
- we use a career fraction that has not been calculated at /14 040 (normal career duration);
and - we can limit the amount of your survivor's pension to a maximum amount.
We take another career fraction into account. The denominator is not expressed in /14,040, but corresponds to the number of calendar years, converted into days, between:
- 1 January of the year of the 20th birthday;
and - 31 December of the year that precedes the year of decease.
Example 1
Lucy's spouse, who was born in 1965, has passed away on 23 April 2019. The career fraction for the calculation of her survivor's pension corresponds:
- to 34 years x 312 days, which makes 10 608 days
and not - to 45 years x 312, or 14 040 days.
We take the career years of her spouse into account from 1985 (year of the 20th birthday) up to and including 2018 (year preceding the year of decease).
The amount of the survivor's pension may not exceed the pension amount we would have awarded to your deceased spouse had he reached the statutory retirement age and had he had a full career (14 040 days). If your deceased spouse's career is incomplete, we limit your survivor’s pension to the amount of this retirement pension multiplied by the fraction of the survivor's pension.
We do not apply this limitation to the transitional allowance.
Example 2
If the survivor's pension we calculated for Lucy amounts to 17 050 EUR and the fictitious retirement pension her spouse would have received at the statutory retirement age (taking the career fraction into account) amounts to 15 650 EUR, we limit the survivor's pension to this maximum of 15 650 EUR. Therefore, Lucy will receive a survivor's pension of 15 650 EUR and not of 17 050 EUR.
What happens if the amount of my survivor's pension is low?
We investigate your entitlement to the guaranteed minimum survivor's pension if the amount of your survivor's pension falls below the amount of this minimum pension, which we determine on the basis of the career fraction of your survivor’s pension.
We raise the amount of your survivor's pension until it reaches the amount of the minimum pension if your deceased spouse's career meets the conditions of career duration and number of days of employment for every career year.
Please note: the rules for the minimum pension do not apply to the transitional allowance.
More information on the conditions and amounts of the guaranteed minimum survivor's pension.
Which elements influence the amount of my survivor's pension?
The gross amount of your survivor's pension can be influenced:
- if your receive a professional income;
or - if your receive a replacement income;
or - if you receive other Belgian or foreign retirement or survivor's pensions.
For the transitional allowance, other accumulation rules apply.
The survivor's pension and the transitional allowance for the next of kin of deceased civil servants
The survivor's pension and the transitional allowance are a pension and an allowance for the next of kin after a decease. Here you will find all information on the calculation of these amounts for the next of kin of deceased civil servants.
On this page:
- How is my survivor's pension calculated?
- How is my transitional allowance calculated?
- What are the limitations to my survivor's pension or transitional allowance?
- Am I entitled to an extra guaranteed minimum allowance?
- Which elements influence my survivor's pension?
How is my survivor's pension calculated?
The calculation of the amount of your survivor's pension depends on the relationship you had with the deceased civil servant:
How much will my survivor's pension as spouse be worth?
We calculate the amount of the survivor's pension according to the following formula: 60 % of the reference pay x N/D
What is the reference pay?
This is the average pay of the last 10 years of the career of the deceased civil servant. If a spouse or ex-spouse was 50 years old on 1 January 2012, we calculate the survivor's pension on the basis of the reference pay of the last 5 years.
What do the numerator and denominator express?
The numerator expresses the admissible services and periods in months. In principle, the admissible services and periods are the same as for a retirement pension that would take effect on the same date.
The denominator expresses the number of months between the 20th birthday and the decease, with a maximum of 480.
Exception: if the deceased civil servant was retired due to physical incapacity or ex officio due to other reasons before his 60th birthday, D is the number of months between the 20th birthday and his retirement.
The fraction N/D may never exceed 1.
Both you and the ex-spouse qualify for a survivor's pension at the time of decease? In that case, we divide your survivor's pension among you and the ex-spouse. Any orphans may also be entitled to a share.
How much will my survivor's pension as ex-spouse be worth?
We calculate your survivor's pension on the basis of the number of career years that coincide with the marriage.
This division happens on the basis of the following formula: P x (T'/N')
P stands for the spouse's survivor's pension.
T' stands for the total admissible services and periods that coincide with your marriage and is expressed in months.
N' stands for the total of the admissible services and periods for the whole career of the deceased civil servant.
Your age at the time of decease has no influence on the calculation of your survivor’s pension.
The payment, however, is suspended in certain cases:
| Is there a spouse? | Age spouse | Age ex-spouse | Consequence for payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | / | + 51 years* | Payment (subject to the accumulation rules) |
| / | - 51 years* | Payment suspended until retirement pension. When you are younger than 45 and have a pension due to physical incapacity, the payment remains suspended until the age of 45.*** | |
| Yes | + 51 years* | + 45 years old** | Payment (subject to the accumulation rules) |
| - 45 years old** | Payment suspended until the age of 45*** | ||
| - 51 years* | Age of no consequence | Payment suspended until retirement pension. When you are younger than 45 and have a pension due to physical incapacity, the payment remains suspended until the age of 45.*** |
*: The age evolves trough time.
**: Fixed age
***: except if the ex-spouse has a dependent child or is at least 66 % permanently unfit for work. The age of 45 does not evolve through time in this case.
How much will my transitional allowance be worth?
We calculate the transitional allowance in the same way as the survivor's pension for the spouse.
A few differences:
- the surviving spouse receives the full transitional allowance. There is no division with orphans or ex-spouses.
- the biennial adaptation of the civil service pensions to the wages of the active civil servants is not applied to the transitional allowance.
What are the limitations to my survivor's pension or transitional allowance?
The survivor's pensions and the transitional allowances are limited to 2 maximum amounts:
The relative maximum
The relative maximum is 50 % of the maximum pay connected to the last grade of the deceased spouse, multiplied by the fraction N/D.
If the pension does not stem from a main office or if the civil servant did not pass away during his career and only had 5 to 20 years' service, the relative maximum amounts to 50 % of the last pay of the deceased civil servant, multiplied by the fraction N/D.
The absolute maximum
The absolute maximum for a survivor's pension is 72 279,33 EUR gross a year (from 01.09.2026 at the index figure 2,2080) or 6 023,27 EUR gross a month.
Am I entitled to an extra guaranteed minimum allowance?
If, after the calculation of your survivor's pension or transitional allowance, it appears that the amount falls below 1 856,74 EUR a month (from 01.09.2026 at the index figure 2,2080), an extra allowance is awarded in order to reach the guaranteed minimum amount.
The guaranteed minimum amount is not awarded to the:
- spouse:
- who receives a temporary survivor's pension;
- whose deceased spouse held an additional public office;
- whose spouse received a deferred pension;
- whose spouse received an immediate pension without having 20 years of service;
- ex-spouse;
- orphans
The reduction of the extra guaranteed minimum allowance
If you receive other pensions or interests, these are deducted from the extra allowance. Interests for an industrial accident compensation or other similar advantages compensating for physical harm are only deducted by half.
Suspension of the extra guaranteed minimum allowance
The payment of the extra allowance in addition to the survivor's pension is stopped if you exercise a professional activity that leads to the suspension or reduction of the survivor's pension.
The payment of the extra allowance in addition to the transitional allowance is stopped if the person concerned exercises a professional activity or receives a replacement income that leads to the suspension or reduction of the survivor's pension.
Which elements influence my survivor's pension?
The amount of the survivor's pension can be altered if:
- you exercise a professional activity;
or - you receive a replacement income;
or - you accumulate with retirement pensions (this may be in other schemes);
or - you accumulate with other Belgian survivor's pensions.