Calculating the Widow's Pension in 2026: Amount, Conditions, Offsetting
After the death of a spouse or partner, money is usually the last thing anyone wants to think about — and yet it forces itself forward, because rent, insurance premiums and direct debits carry on regardless. This guide explains calmly and completely how the German statutory survivor's pension is calculated, what is paid in the first months, and how your own income affects the figure. All amounts refer to the current pension value of €42.52, which has applied since 1 July 2026. The widow's pension follows a simple basic formula: the deceased's pension multiplied by the pension type factor, followed by the offsetting of your own income. That factor is 1.0 for the first three months, then 0.55 for the large and 0.25 for the small widow's pension. You can work through your own situation in a minute with the Widow's Pension Calculator, including a timeline for the first twelve months.
The three phases of a survivor's pension
Phase one is the grace quarter: the three calendar months following the month of death. During this time you receive your late partner's full pension, and your own income is disregarded entirely. Someone who drew €1,600 leaves behind €1,600 gross per month in this phase. After health and long-term care insurance contributions, around €1,402 net remains — money many survivors urgently need for the funeral and for settling the estate.
Phase two begins in the fourth month. The pension type factor now applies, so €1,600 becomes €880 gross with the large widow's pension. At the same time your own income is assessed. Phase three concerns only the small widow's pension: it ends after 24 calendar months, unless the pre-2002 rules apply. The large widow's pension has no time limit — it runs until remarriage.
Large or small widow's pension?
You receive the large widow's pension at 55 percent if at least one of three conditions is met: you are raising a child under 18, you have a reduced earning capacity of your own, or you have reached the age threshold. That threshold has been rising in steps from 45 to 47 years since 2012, and the year of death decides which step applies. For a death in 2026 it is 46 years and 6 months; from a death in 2029 onwards it is a uniform 47 years.
If none of these conditions is met, the small widow's pension at 25 percent applies, limited to 24 calendar months. That is not a final verdict: if you later reach the age threshold or a reduced earning capacity is established, a fresh claim to the large widow's pension arises. You do have to assert it yourself, though — it does not continue automatically.
The pre-2002 rules, child-rearing and the exceptions
Older marriages enjoy a more generous rule. If the marriage was concluded before 1 January 2002 and at least one partner was born before 2 January 1962, the pension type factor for the large widow's pension is 0.6 instead of 0.55. Our €1,600 then becomes €960 rather than €880 — a difference of €80 a month, or €960 a year. The small widow's pension is also open-ended under those rules. Both variants can be compared directly in the Widow's Pension Calculator.
The price of the older rules: they include no supplement for child-rearing. Under the current rules each of the first 36 calendar months of credited child-rearing counts as 0.1010 earnings points, and every further month as 0.0505. A child cared for until its third birthday therefore yields 3.636 earnings points, worth roughly €85 extra per month. With two children it is about €128 — clearly more than the €80 gap between 55 and 60 percent.
Income offsetting: the €1,122.53 allowance
From the fourth month your own income is offset — but only above a generous allowance. It equals 26.4 times the current pension value, so €1,122.53 per month since July 2026; before that it was €1,076.86. Each child eligible for an orphan's pension adds €238.11. Anything above that is offset at 40 percent against the widow's pension, which means 60 percent of the extra income stays with you.
What counts is not your gross income but a flat-rate net figure. The pension insurance deducts a flat 40 percent from employment income, only 14 percent from your own state pension, and 25 percent from rental income and investment returns. A gross salary of €2,200 therefore equals €1,320 of countable net income. Of that, €197.47 lies above the allowance, and 40 percent of it — around €79 — is the amount deducted.
What is finally paid out — and how to apply
Health and long-term care insurance contributions still come off the gross widow's pension: 7.3 percent health insurance plus half the additional contribution, averaging 1.45 percent in 2026, and 3.6 percent care insurance. People without children aged 23 and over pay 4.2 percent. In our example, €880 base plus a €128 supplement less €79 of offsetting leaves roughly €929 gross and therefore about €814 net per month.
The pension is not paid automatically. Apply within twelve calendar months of the month of death and it is granted retroactively from the date of death; after that it only starts in the month of application, and the intervening period is lost. For the grace quarter you can additionally request an advance, usually credited within a few days. If the marriage lasted less than a year, the pension insurance examines whether it was contracted mainly to secure a pension — after an accident or a sudden illness that presumption can be rebutted.
Work through your own situation calmly before making financial decisions. The Widow's Pension Calculator shows the grace quarter, the ongoing pension and the offsetting side by side. What ultimately binds is the official notice from your pension insurance institution — this guide does not replace pension, legal or tax advice.