Survivors' Pensions

Widow and widower pension

Conditions of entitlement to the widow and widower pensions (Sections (§) 49 and 50 Act on pension insurance)

A widow shall be entitled to the widow pension after her deceased husband, who

  1. was a beneficiary of an old-age or disability pension (before the 1 January 2010 of a full disability or partial disability pension), or
  2. met by the date of his death the conditions of the required insurance time to be entitled to a disability pension (before the 1 January 2010 to a full disability pension) or conditions to be entitled to an old-age pension or died as a result of an occupational injury (occupational disease).

A widower shall be entitled to the widower pension under the same conditions as a widow entitled to the widow pension.

The widow pension shall be granted for a period of one year after the husband´s death. After this period expires the widow shall continue to be entitled to the widow pension, if

  1. she takes care of a dependent child,
  2. she takes care of a child dependent on the care provided by another person in levels II through IV,
  3. she takes care of her parent or parent of the deceased husband, who share the household with her and is dependent on the care provided by another person in levels II through IV,
  4. she is disabled with the third-degree disability (before the 1 January 2010 fully disabled),
  5. she has reached the age at least by 4 years lower than the retirement age for males with the same year of birth (before the 1 January 2010 at least 55 years of age) or the retirement age, if the retirement age is lower.

The entitlement to the widow pension shall arise again if any of the mentioned conditions is met within two years after the previous entitlement to the widow pension expired.

This shall apply similarly for the entitlement of a widower to the widower pension.

The amount of the widow and widower pensions (Section (§) 51 Act on pension insurance)

The amount of the pension consists of two components, specifically a basic assessment and a percentage assessment.

The amount of the basic assessment of the pensions has been is set as a percentage of the average wage – 9 % of average wage (and rounded appropriately).

The percentage assessment shall be 50 % of the percentage assessment for the old-age or disability pension for the third-degree disability to which the deceased spouse was or would have been entitled at the time of his/her death.

Orphan pension

Conditions of the entitlement to the orphan pension (Section (§) 52 Act on pension insurance)

A dependent child shall be entitled to the orphan pension, provided either of the following persons has died

  1. parent (adoptive parent), or
  2. person, who took the child in foster care replacing the care of the parents, and the child was at the time of that person´s death dependent on him/her in terms of maintenance, which the parents were unable to provide for serious reasons,

provided the parent (adopted parent) or the person identified under letter b) were beneficiaries of the old-age or disability pension or met by the date of his death the condition of at least half of the required insurance time to be entitled to a disability pension or conditions to be entitled to an old-age pension or died as a result of an occupational injury (occupational disease).

provided the parent (adopted parent ) or the person identified under letter b) were beneficiaries of the old-age or disability pension or conditions for the entitlement to the old-age pension or died as a result of an occupational injury (occupational disease).

An orphaned child who lost both parents shall be entitled to the orphan pension after either the deceased parents.

The entitlement to the orphan pension shall not arise in case of death of a foster parent or his/her spouse.

The entitlement to the orphan pension shall cease after the child is adopted. If the adoption is terminated then the entitlement to the orphan pension resumes.

The amount of the orphan pension (Section (§) 53 Act on pension insurance)

The amount of the pension consists of two components, specifically a basic assessment and a percentage assessment.

The amount of the basic assessment of the pensions has been is set as a percentage of the average wage – 9 % of average wage (and rounded appropriately); in cases of an orphaned child who lost both parents this basic assessment shall be granted only once.

The percentage assessment shall be 40 % of the percentage assessment of the pension for which the deceased person would have been entitled at the time of his/her death.

Filing an application for the pension (Section (§) 82 of the Act No. 582/1991 Coll., on organization and implementation of social security)

The same procedure shall apply as provided in the section “Old-age pensions“.