The survivor’s pension is supposed to provide financial security to the surviving spouse. To benefit from it, “it is appropriate to recall the main modalities: the existence of a marriage with the deceased and, depending on the case, an absence of remarriage; a minimum age requirement; possible resource conditions (general regime and certain basic regimes); conditions linked to family situation (dependent children, disability) and the absence of conviction for domestic violence”specifies Maître Benjamin Boulard, lawyer at the Paris Court of Appeal. In fact, it creates very disparate situations depending on the retirement plans.
Thus, a widow or widower of a private sector employee receives 54% of his spouse’s basic pension, but only if his annual resources remain below 25,001.60 euros. A spouse of a deceased civil servant receives 50% pension without any income conditions. Former executives also have the right to 60% of the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension, again without a resource ceiling. Result: two equivalent careers can lead to radically different levels of reversion.
Eligibility rules that vary from simple to triple
Added to these differences are different rules depending on the regime. A spouse of a deceased lawyer can request reversion as soon as 50 yearswhen a widow or widower of a liberal doctor must wait 60 or 65 years old. Some regimes require up to five years of marriage, others no duration, and still others cancel rights in the event of remarriage.
Some remove age requirements in the presence of children, others do not. Deciphering a plan before death is therefore not a detail, because these discrepancies can significantly modify the actual amount received and the date on which the pension becomes accessible.
How to check your rights and avoid pension losses
Before death, it is essential to identify all the schemes to which the spouse has contributed: civil service, CNBF, CARMF, CNAV, Agirc-Arrco, etc. Omissions are not rare and can be contested with the funds.
A simulation on the info-retraite.fr portal allows you to anticipate the potential amount and the exact conditions. “The filing of a request in due form within the appropriate deadlines is essential to benefit from a survivor’s pension », insists Maître Boulard. A regular check of the career record remains the best way to access all your rights.
