Survivor’s pension - nav.no (2024)

If you lose your spouse, cohabitant or partner, you may be entitled to an additional supplement to your old-age pension.

As a surviving spouse, registered partner or cohabitant, you may be entitled to a higher old-age pension than the one you have earned yourself. If you are a surviving cohabiting partner, you are only entitled to this if you have or have had children with your cohabiting partner who is now deceased, or have previously been married to your cohabiting partner who is now deceased.

If you were divorced from the deceased, you may have rights as a survivor under certain conditions.

In order to receive old-age pension with rights as a survivor, you must meet the same criteria as for survivor’s pension.

Are you receiving survivor’s pension and are considering applying for old-age pension?

If you are receiving a pension as a surviving spouse, this pension will stop when you turn 67 years of age. Your old-age pension will then be calculated with additional entitlements from the deceased. However, if you have sufficient pension earnings, you can choose to start drawing your old-age pension with additional entitlements from the deceased before you turn 67 years. If you do so, you will no longer qualify for survivor’s pension. Please note that you cannot return to receiving survivor’s pension once you have chosen to start drawing your old-age pension.

When assessing whether you meet the conditions for being able to start drawing your old-age pension before you turn 67, we look only at your own earned pension. If you meet the conditions, your additional entitlements as a survivor will also be calculated with the same life expectancy adjustment as your own earned old-age pension.

Are you a surviving spouse and want to apply for survivor’s pension or old-age pension?

If you are under the age of 67 and are not receiving survivor’s pension, you can choose between old-age pension and survivor’s pension. If you choose old-age pension, you will be able to have additional entitlements from the deceased included in your pension. Please note that you cannot receive survivor’s pension once you have chosen to start drawing your old-age pension.

If you would like more information or help calculating your pension, do not hesitate to contact us on (+47) 55 55 33 34. If you apply for old-age pension after you have turned 67 years and you are a survivor, we will assess whether you can have pension earnings from the deceased included in your old-age pension.

What happens to your pension when your spouse, cohabitant or partner dies?

If you are already receiving old-age pension when your spouse, partner or cohabitant dies, you may be entitled to a higher old-age pension, because you benefit from the deceased’s earned pension. Once the death has been registered with NAV, you will receive a letter informing you about your rights.

NAV will follow up your case and assess whether entitlements from your deceased spouse qualify you for a higher pension, even if we do not receive an application from you. We will follow up on your case within 3 months of the deceased’s death. If we do not have enough information, we will contact you and ask you to send it to us.

If you are already receiving your own old-age pension, you will have your pension converted into the rates for single pensioners.

How to apply if you were divorced from the deceased

If you were divorced from the deceased, you may nevertheless have rights as a survivor in some cases.

You must submit a paper application. It is important that you fill in all the relevant fields and submit all the necessary documentation, so that your case can be processed promptly. You will be notified as you fill in the application if you need to provide documentation of any of the information you have provided.

Application for survivors’ benefits – form no. NAV 17-01.05

Have you been informed that you need to submit an application?

If you receive information from NAV that you need to submit an application in order for us to assess your pension entitlements, this is because

• you live abroad and your deceased spouse, partner or cohabitant did not receive old-age pension, disability benefit or contractual early retirement pension from NAV, or
• you are under the age of 67 and have not started drawing your old-age pension

You must submit a paper application. It is important that you fill in all the relevant fields and submit all the necessary documentation, so that your case can be processed promptly. You will be notified as you fill in the application if you need to provide documentation of any of the information you have provided.

Application for survivors’ benefits – form no. NAV 17-01.05

Other benefits from NAV will not be affected by the changes in the old-age pension. If you are receiving an occupational pension, you will be notified by your pension scheme if there are going to be any changes in the payments you receive from them.

For people born in the period 1954–1957 who started drawing their old-age pension with additional entitlements as a survivor before 1 January 2020, the rules are as follows:

You will receive old-age pension calculated according to a combination of both the old and the new rules. If you were born in 1954, one tenth of your pension will be calculated according to the new rules and nine tenths will be calculated according to the old rules. If you were born the following year, two tenths of your pension will be calculated according to the new rules, and eight tenths will be calculated according to the old rules; and so on and so forth.

The additional entitlements as a survivor in the old-age pension under the old rules are different from the survivor’s supplement to the old-age pension under the new rules. Under the old rules, additional entitlements as a survivor in the old-age pension are calculated as follows:

• Your basic pension should usually constitute a full basic pension, but may be reduced. The length of your period of national insurance cover, your marital status and a number of other factors affect the size of your basic pension.
• Your basic pension will be calculated on the basis of the deceased’s period of national insurance cover if this is longer than your period of national insurance cover.
• Your supplementary pension will be 55 per cent of your own earned supplementary pension and 55 per cent of the deceased’s earned supplementary pension. You keep your own earned supplementary pension if it is higher than 55 per cent of both parties’ supplementary pensions.
• You will receive a pension supplement if the sum total of your basic pension and supplementary pension is lower than the minimum pension level at the special higher rate.
• Your total old-age pension including your entitlements from the deceased will be calculated on the basis of the same life expectancy adjustment and regulation as your pension before the deceased died.
• You cannot receive survivor’s pension if you are already receiving old-age pension. The same applies if you are receiving graded old-age pension. However, if you had set your withdrawal percentage on your old-age pension to 0 before the deceased died, you may nevertheless be entitled to survivor’s pension.

In addition, you will receive survivor’s supplement on that part of your old-age pension that is calculated using the new rules. This supplement is calculated as the difference between the old-age pension with additional entitlements as a survivor in accordance with the old rules for pension earning and your own old-age pension, calculated using the old pension earning rules.

The difference must be positive in order for you to qualify for survivor’s supplement. The supplement will be adjusted for the proportion of your old-age pension that is calculated according to the new rules for pension earning. For example, people born in 1956 will receive 3/10 of the survivor’s supplement.

For people born in the period 1954–1962 who started drawing their old-age pension with additional entitlements as a survivor after 1 January 2020, the rules are as follows:

• Your basic pension should usually constitute a full basic pension, but may be reduced. The length of your period of national insurance cover, your marital status and a number of other factors affect the size of your basic pension.
• Your basic pension will be calculated on the basis of the deceased’s period of national insurance cover if this is longer than your period of national insurance cover.
• Your supplementary pension will be 55 per cent of your own earned supplementary pension and 55 per cent of the deceased’s earned supplementary pension. You keep your own earned supplementary pension if it is higher than 55 per cent of both parties’ supplementary pensions.
• A pension supplement is granted if the sum total of your basic pension and supplementary pension is lower than the minimum pension level at the special higher rate.
• Your total old-age pension including your entitlements from the deceased will be calculated on the basis of the same life expectancy adjustment and regulation as your pension before the deceased died.
• If you are under the age of 67 years, you cannot receive survivor’s pension if you are already receiving old-age pension. The same applies if you are receiving graded old-age pension. However, if you had set your withdrawal percentage on your old-age pension to 0 before the deceased died, you may nevertheless be entitled to survivor’s pension.

Only people who can start drawing their old-age pension with additional entitlements as a survivor before 1 January 2020 are entitled to a survivor’s supplement to the old-age pension under the new pension earning rules.