How the survivor pension is calculated

What the survivor pension is

When a Social Security beneficiary dies, their pension is not entirely extinguished: part of it is now paid to close family, in the form of a survivor pension (pensão de sobrevivência). It is not a new amount invented for the family: it is a percentage of the old-age or invalidity pension the deceased received, or would have been entitled to at the date of death¹.

So the first thing to know is what the deceased's pension was. The larger it was, the larger the survivor pension. To estimate the pension of a contributory career, use the pension estimator; then apply the percentages here.

Who is entitled

The survivor pension is intended for the closest family²:

• the spouse, the ex-spouse (provided they received maintenance) and the common-law partner;
• the descendants (children and equivalents);
• in their absence, the ascendants (parents or grandparents) who depended on the deceased.

The right depends on a 36-month guarantee period of the deceased's contributions¹. If the couple had no children, the spouse only qualifies if the marriage lasted at least one year at the date of death (except death from an accident or an illness arising after the marriage, or a prior common-law union that, together, exceeds two years).

The percentages

The amount is obtained by applying the legally defined percentages to the deceased's pension¹:

The children's group percentage is split equally among them. Note an important subtlety: the spouse percentage (60% or 70%) depends on whether there is one or more than one beneficiary in the spouse group (for example, a widow and an ex-spouse sharing the 70%), and not on the existence of children. It is the children who have different percentages depending on whether a spouse is, or is not, entitled.

The 100% cap

The percentages are calibrated so that the total never exceeds 100% of the deceased's pension. The maximum case with a spouse is 60% (spouse) + 40% (three or more children) = 100%. Without a spouse, the children alone reach, at most, 80%. There are therefore no situations in which the family receives more than the original pension.

Worked example

Say the deceased relative received a pension of €1,000/month, leaving an entitled spouse and two children:

• Spouse: 60% of €1,000 = €600.
• Children (two): 30% of €1,000 = €300, split equally: €150 each.
• Family total: €900/month.

As the pension is paid 14 times a year, that comes to €12,600 a year. With no spouse, the two children would receive double: 60% in total, €600/month. Run the numbers with your own figures in the survivor pension calculator.

It is paid 14 times a year

Like the other pensions, the survivor pension is paid 14 times a year: the 12 monthly instalments plus the holiday (July) and Christmas (December) extra payments, each equal to one instalment. So to go from the monthly amount to the yearly one, you multiply by 14, not 12.

How long it lasts

The amount is a fixed percentage, but the duration varies, especially for the spouse²:

• Spouse under 35 at the date of death: generally the pension is temporary, paid for 5 years (extended while there are entitled children).
• Spouse aged 35 or over, or with total and permanent incapacity: the pension is for life.
• The spouse's pension ceases on remarriage or a new common-law union.
• For children, the pension lasts while the age conditions hold (generally up to 18, extended while in education, up to 25, and later in situations of incapacity).

What this calculator does not do

The calculator estimates the amount of the spouse's and children's pension. Some aspects, because they depend on each case, are left out and should be checked on Segurança Social Direta:

• the split of the 70% when there is more than one beneficiary in the spouse group;
• the ascendants case (30/50/80%), who only receive when there is no spouse and no children;
• the statutory minimum survivor pension;
• the reduction when the pension is accumulated with the beneficiary's own pension;
• the exact duration (this tool calculates the amount, not the number of years).

To understand the pension it all starts from (the deceased's own), see the article how Portugal's pension is calculated.