Hello Christmas,
When it comes to pensions, it is not always easy to see clearly. But carrying out a survivor’s pension simulation is not easy.
There is no survivor’s pension simulation platform
“Can someone go and simulate his retirement pension on the calculation engine of Mypension.bebut for the survivor’s pension, it is not possible”, explains Alice Weymeers, general adviser in the pension rights department at the Federal Pensions Service. “But for a person who is already a pensioner at the time of death, it is quite easy to do the calculation. ”
If the person who dies had an employee’s pension, the amount of the allocable survivor’s pension is the same as that of the pension at the isolated rate, so it is quite easy to know the allocable amount (which is not equivalent to the amount payable , since it is necessary to take into account the rules of accumulation of income). For someone who dies before retirement, there is no calculation simulation at this stage.
The Federal Pensions Service can, however, calculate a person’s survivor’s pension in specific cases. “We do this calculation on request, but it really has to be justified: when a person is seriously ill, for example, or in the case of a dispute”, indique Alice Weymeers.
This can be done via the contact form on the website of the Federal Pensions Service or by phone at 1765.
In Belgium, more than 500,000 people received a survivor’s pension in January 2021, 94% of them women.
There are different calculations depending on your situation.
In the event that the deceased person was employee, the survivor’s pension (or the transition allowance) is calculated on the basis of his career. If Noël was an employee and already a pensioner at the time of his death, his wife might theoretically benefit from 80% of the retirement pension at the household rate that Noël currently receives.
The calculation differs if Noel dies before he retires. The amount of the pension is then adapted to his career time between January 1 of the year of his 20th birthday and December 31 of the year preceding his death.
The gross amount of the survivor’s pension may be affected if the living person receives professional income, a replacement income or other Belgian or foreign retirement or survivor’s pensions. With us, around 300,000 people combined a survivor’s pension with a retirement pension in January 2021.
In case Christmas was official, the survivor’s pension for his wife is calculated as follows: 60% of the reference salary XN/D. To see this more clearly, we must first understand what reference treatment means. This is the average salary for the last 10 years of the deceased official’s career (the last 5 years if he was 50 on 1 January 2012). In the N/D (Nominator/Denominator) fraction, the N equals the qualifying periods and services, expressed in months. The D indicates the number of months between the 20th birthday and the retirement of the deceased person.
The specificity for a civil servant is that the ex-spouse can be considered for a survivor’s pension at the time of death. This is also the case for orphans. In the first case, the survivor’s pension is calculated on the basis of the number of years of career which coincide with the period of marriage. To know the details: sfpd website.
Various conditions must be met to obtain a survivor’s pension
They are the same in the three schemes (employee, civil servant and self-employed), with a few specificities.
The first condition is: must be married for at least one year. Legal cohabitants cannot claim a survivor’s pension except for exceptions. And if you remarry, you automatically lose the right to your survivor’s pension.
Young widowers can receive a bridging allowance before a possible survivor’s pension. In 2023, you must be under 49 to qualify. The allowable (and non-payable) amount of the transition allowance is generally equivalent to that of the survivor’s pension, but it can be received without any accumulation limit. “You can have unemployment, mutual insurance, unlimited income and still receive a transition allowance”, explains Alice Weymeers. However, this allowance has a fixed duration: 18 months if the widow or widower has no children, 36 months if there is at least one child aged 13 or over, 48 months if there is a child under 13 or with a disability. “The idea of this transition allowance is to provide a financial boost for a given period. The person can thus overcome this death without having to leave the professional situation in which he finds himself. “When this widow or widower reaches retirement age, a right of survivorship is automatically considered.
If the person is over 49, then the survivor’s pension is calculated directly. In this case, the amount cannot be combined with what you want.
When and how to apply for a survivor’s pension or a transition allowance?
After the death of one’s spouse, it is advisable to submit the application as soon as possible. This is done online via the website www.demandepension.be or in person at their municipal administration or at the INASTI headquarters in Brussels (or in one of its regional offices).
In some situations, it is not necessary to submit an application. This is, for example, the case when the deceased spouse was already in receipt of a self-employed person’s retirement pension or had submitted an application for which no decision had yet been taken. The other conditions are listed on the INASTI website.