Orphan's Pension: What Children Are Entitled To
When a parent dies, children have a pension claim of their own — independent of the surviving parent's widow's or widower's pension. The orphan's pension is paid on top and does not reduce the parent's survivor's pension. It has to be stated explicitly in the pension application, otherwise it is easily overlooked.
Half-orphan or full orphan
The half-orphan's pension goes to children who still have one parent liable for maintenance. It amounts to 10 percent of the pension the deceased would have received as a full reduced-earning-capacity pension, plus a supplement based on the contribution record. The full-orphan's pension for children who have lost both parents is 20 percent and is calculated from both parents' insurance accounts. On an underlying pension of €1,600 that is roughly €160 a month for a half-orphan, before the supplement.
Until 18 — and often until 27
As a rule the orphan's pension runs until the eighteenth birthday. It continues until the twenty-seventh birthday, however, if the child is in school or vocational training, is studying, is completing a voluntary social or ecological year or a federal volunteer service, or is unable to support itself because of a disability.
A transitional gap of up to four calendar months between two stages of education is covered as well — between leaving school and starting university, for instance. Anyone who has completed a voluntary service can have the orphan's pension extended beyond the twenty-seventh birthday by the length of that service.
The child's own income no longer matters
Until mid-2015, income earned by adult orphans above an allowance was offset at 40 percent. That rule was abolished on 1 July 2015. A training salary, a working-student job or a side income no longer reduce the orphan's pension. This is one of the most important differences from the widow's pension, where offsetting still applies.
Orphan's pension and widow's pension together
Both benefits exist side by side. A child's orphan's pension is not offset against the parent's widow's pension. Conversely, every child entitled to an orphan's pension actually raises the widow's pension allowance — by €238.11 a month per child since July 2026. The Widow's Pension Calculator models exactly this interplay once you enter the number of children.
For a parent with two children entitled to an orphan's pension, the allowance therefore rises from €1,122.53 to €1,598.75. On a gross salary of €2,600 that removes the offsetting entirely, where without children it would come to around €175 a month.
There is no grace quarter here
Unlike the widow's pension, the orphan's pension has no grace quarter. It starts straight away at the regular rate from the month after the month of death. The twelve-month rule applies here too, though: apply within a year of the month of death and payment is backdated to the date of death, otherwise it starts only in the month of application.
Tax, contributions and the application
Orphan's pensions, like all pensions from the statutory scheme, are taxable to the extent they exceed the personal pension allowance. In practice, children and young adults without other income rarely end up paying any tax. Health and care insurance contributions arise once the orphan is no longer covered by family insurance — during vocational training with its own pay, for example.
For the application you will need the death certificate, the child's birth certificate, the insurance numbers of both the child and the deceased parent, and, for anyone over 18, proof of education, study or voluntary service. The pension insurance asks for that proof again at regular intervals — submit it in good time, otherwise payment is suspended and has to be recalculated later.
How large the surviving parent's own survivor's pension will be alongside it can be worked out in the Widow's Pension Calculator. All results are non-binding estimates and do not replace advice from the German pension insurance.