Financial entitlements of widowed single parents

One of the most important benefits is the survivor's pension, also known as the widow's or widower's pension. It is paid by Deutsche Rentenversicherung and helps to close the income gap caused by the loss of a partner. The widow's or widower's pension is usually paid retroactively from the month of death after the application has been submitted.

The entitlement to a survivor's pension depends on how long the marriage or registered partnership lasted and how old the surviving partner is. Parenting periods and children who are still in education or minors can increase the widow's or widower's pension.

As a rule, widows and widowers can apply for a small or large survivor's pension:

• The large widow's or widower's pension is paid if you were married for at least one year before the death of your partner and do not have sufficient income of your own.
• The small widow's or widower's pension is paid if the marriage lasted less than one year and the surviving partner earns income of their own that exceeds the specified allowance.

Important to know:

• The survivor's pension is reduced if your own income exceeds the supplementary income limit. A certain percentage of the amount earned above this limit is deducted from the widow's or widower's pension.
• The survivor's pension is subject to income tax. For taxation purposes, the widow's or widower's pension and your own income are added together.

Further information on survivors' pensions can be found on the German Pension Insurance portal.

If your deceased partner had an occupational pension, you may be entitled to a widow's or widower's pension from this pension. This supplementary pension is paid in addition to the statutory survivor's pension and can be an important source of income. To clarify your entitlement, contact the deceased partner's occupational pension scheme directly.

If you are raising the children alone after the death of your spouse, you are entitled to a child-raising pension under certain conditions - even if you were not divorced before the death. The child-raising pension is paid instead of a survivor's pension.

Single parents who had children with their deceased partner are entitled to a child-raising pension. The prerequisite is that the children are still minors.

The child-raising pension is paid until the youngest child's 18th birthday. It can be drawn until a child's 18th birthday. It can be drawn regardless of the child's age, provided the child is unable to support themselves due to a disability.

Further information on the child-raising pension can be found on the German Pension Insurance portal under "Renten für Hinterbliebene".

In addition to the financial entitlements of the parents, the children of the deceased (the so-called half-orphans) are also entitled to financial support.

The following are entitled to an orphan's pension:

• the natural or adopted children of the deceased parent
• stepchildren and foster children who lived in the household of the deceased parent
• grandchildren and siblings who lived in the household of the deceased or were mainly supported by the deceased.

The half-orphan's pension is paid if the mother or father is deceased. Full orphan's pension is paid if both parents are no longer alive.

The orphan's pension is based on the amount of the deceased parent's pension entitlement and is transferred directly to the child's account. As a rule, the half-orphan's pension is 10% and the full orphan's pension 20% of the pension entitlement of the deceased parent(s).

The orphan's pension is generally paid until the child reaches the age of 18, but can be extended up to the age of 27 if the child is still in education.

By the way, it makes no difference to the entitlement to an orphan's pension whether the child is legitimate, adopted or illegitimate . Stepchildren and foster children as well as grandchildren and siblings are also taken into account if they lived in the household of the deceased.

You apply for the orphan's pension from the relevant pension provider. If the other parent died in an accident at work, commuting accident or due to an occupational disease, the statutory accident insurance is responsible.

Further information on the orphan's pension can be found under "When is it paid, when does it cease" on the German Pension Insurance portal.

Widowed single parents are still entitled to child benefit. It is paid for each child up to the age of 18 or up to the age of 25 if the child is in training or studying.

Applications and further information on child benefit can be found here on Familienportal.NRW.

In addition to child benefit, you can also apply for child supplement, which is paid in addition to child benefit if your income is not sufficient to cover the family's living expenses.

You can find detailed information in the article "Child supplement" here on the Familienportal.NRW.

What many widowed single parents don't know: If the parent liable for maintenance has died and has not left sufficient income, you can apply to the youth welfare office for an advance on maintenance for your child or children. In these cases, the state will replace the maintenance.

Important to know: Your child's half-orphan's pension is offset against the maintenance advance.

You can apply for the maintenance advance for surviving children digitally via Familienportal.NRW.

If you have financial worries after the death of the other parent, you are entitled to further financial assistance such as housing benefit, citizen's allowance or social assistance under certain conditions. You can find information on these state benefits in the article "Support services for single parents" here on Familienportal.NRW.

In some cases, as a widow or widower, you can receive a one-off survivor's allowance, which is intended as financial support to cover funeral costs.

You can find detailed information on the benefits and requirements for assistance in the event of death on the portal of the North Rhine-Westphalia tax authorities. You can also download the application form there.

If the spouse dies, the surviving partner is placed in tax class 3 for the remainder of the year of death and the entire following calendar year. This tax bracket takes into account higher tax-free allowances and offers a lower tax burden. However, tax class 3 only applies to the year of death and the following calendar year.

From the beginning of the second calendar year after the death of your partner, you will have to switch to tax class 2 if you are a single parent with a minor child living in your household. For this subsequent period, however, you are also entitled to the tax relief amount for single parents, which can reduce your tax burden.

You can find detailed information on changing tax class and the tax relief amount for single parents on the portal of the tax authorities for North Rhine-Westphalia.