The survivor's pension, which designates part of the pension of a deceased person paid to his surviving spouse, is allocated according to the latter's age and resources. However, to benefit from this survivor's pension, the spouse must have been bound by the ties of marriage with the deceased. As a result, cohabitants, like PACS people, cannot claim the survivor's pension of their deceased spouse.
The survivor's pension, today more called the survivor's pension, designates the part of the pension affected, or that could have been received by a deceased insured person, and which is paid to his surviving spouse by Social Security for the deceased who were working. in the private sector.
The amount of this survivor's pension is in principle equivalent to 54% of the pension that the deceased spouse received or could have received. But, as the survivor's pension is granted under certain conditions, and in particular means-tested, its amount can be reduced.
However, if the deceased spouse totaled 60 quarters of retirement under the general pension insurance scheme, the amount of the survivor's pension may not be less than a minimum amount set each year by the National Old Age Insurance Fund (Cnav ), i.e. 291 euros per month on the 1 st January 2021. If the deceased spouse did not benefit from these 60 quarters, the minimum amount of the survivor's pension is reduced proportionally.
On the other hand, the amount of a survivor's pension may be increased in certain cases. An increase of 11.1% applies if the surviving spouse has reached full retirement age, if he has exercised his pension rights, and if the total of his retirement pensions does not exceed a certain ceiling defined by the Cnav (2,624 euros per quarter in 2021).
Similarly, the survivor's pension is increased by 10% if the beneficiary and his deceased spouse have raised at least 3 children. If the surviving spouse has not reached full retirement age, their survivor's pension is also increased for each dependent child.
Depending on the beneficiary's reference tax income, the survivor's pension may be subject to deductions such as the general social contribution (CSG), the contribution for the reimbursement of social debt (CRDS) and the solidarity contribution for autonomy (Casa).
The survivor's pension is allocated, as we have seen previously, in particular subject to means testing. But other conditions are also required.
First, a condition related to the age of the surviving spouse. If the deceased worked in the private sector, the spouse must be at least 55 years old to claim the survivor's pension. On the other hand, no age condition is required for the spouses of a deceased official.
Another condition required to benefit from the survivor's pension of one's deceased spouse depends on the link which united them. Indeed, only the bonds of marriage count for claiming to receive a survivor's pension.
In other words, the husband or wife of the deceased person can benefit from a survivor's pension, whereas this is not the case for couples who live in cohabitation or who are in a PACS.
On the other hand, and logically in relation to this condition of marriage, the ex-husbands and ex-wives of whom the deceased had divorced have the right to receive part of the survivor's pension of the deceased even if they are remarried, PACS on their side, or they live in concubinage. In this case, this pension is shared between the husband or wife of the deceased and the divorced ex-spouses.
Note: for employees in the private sector, the length of marriage is not taken into account to claim a survivor's pension. It is, however, for civil servants. The surviving spouses must indeed prove that they have been married for 4 years to the deceased or the marriage must have been celebrated at least 2 years before the retirement of the deceased civil servant.
