How do you apply for a half-orphan’s pension and how much is it?

The death of a mother or father is a severe blow of fate for children and young people. The orphan’s pension can at least help the surviving dependents cope financially with the situation. If one parent is still alive, this is referred to as a half-orphan’s pension; if both are deceased, this is referred to as a full-orphan’s pension. Around 270,000 young people currently receive an orphan’s pension from the German pension insurance, the vast majority of which receive a half-orphan’s pension.

If a parent dies, surviving children can receive a half-orphan’s pension. According to the German pension insurance, this applies to

Each child receives their own orphan’s pension. However, the statutory pension insurance only pays the orphan’s pension if the deceased parent was insured there for at least five years. In addition to contribution periods, child-rearing periods are also taken into account. In exceptional cases, the waiting period of five years does not have to be fulfilled, for example if the parent died in an accident at work.

This depends on what pension rights the deceased had at the time of death. The German pension insurance pays a half-orphan’s pension amounting to 10 percent of the deceased’s insured person’s pension, regardless of whether the entitlement was only on paper or he had already received the pension. The full orphan’s pension is 20 percent of the amount of the parent with the higher pension. In 2024, the pension insurance paid out an average of 243 euros per month for half and full orphan pensions.

The amount can be higher if the parent died in an accident at work, so that statutory accident insurance takes over. The half-orphan’s pension is then 20 percent of the deceased’s annual earnings, the full-orphan’s pension is 30 percent. Orphan’s pensions from accident insurance are offset against those from pension insurance – so you don’t get the full amount of both.

Something else applies to the children of civil servants: Here the responsible employer pays a half-orphan’s pension of 12 percent (20 percent for full orphans) of the previously achieved pension, as the pension for civil servants is called.

Incidentally, your own income is not counted towards orphans’ pensions. A trainee would receive the pension in full on top of his trainee’s salary. However, orphans’ pensions must generally be taxed.

As a rule, orphans’ pensions are paid until the child reaches their 18th birthday. Under certain circumstances, you can also receive your pension for longer, up to your 27th birthday at the most. Namely when the orphan

Orphan’s pensions continue to be paid even if the orphan is adopted or marries during the entitlement period.

For underage orphans, the legal representative submits the application to the German pension insurance (or accident insurance or alternatively responsible providers). In the case of half-orphans, this is usually the remaining parent. From the age of 15, the orphan can also submit the application themselves. The application forms are available online on the pension insurance homepage. The death certificate of the deceased parent and the birth certificate of the orphan must also be presented.

Anyone who wants to continue receiving the orphan’s pension after their 18th birthday must prove once a year that they are still entitled (see above). This can be done, for example, by presenting a training contract or a certificate of enrollment. If no evidence is provided, the pension insurance will stop paying the orphan’s pension.