The Swiss pension system provides for a survivor's pension to prevent a wife, husband, registered partner or children from unexpectedly finding themselves in a difficult financial situation if their partner or parent dies.
The amount of the pension depends on the deceased person's number of contribution years, level of earned income and his or her education credits or care credits.
If your late wife, husband, registered partner or parent paid all his or her OASI contributions, i.e. from 1 January after reaching the age of 20 until death, you are entitled to a full pension.
If there are gaps in OASI contributions, you will receive a lower pension.
With a full pension, you are normally entitled to the following amounts, depending on the deceased's average income:
Minimum in CHF / month | Maximum in CHF / month | |
|---|---|---|
Widow’s or widower’s pension | 980.- | 1960.- |
Orphan’s pension | 490.- | 980.- |
If you are receiving an old-age or disability pension, you will receive a supplement of 20 per cent on top of your OASI/IV pension if you become a widow or widower. The sum of the pension and the supplement may not exceed a maximum pension.
The deceased's OASI compensation fund can tell you exactly how much the pension will be in your case.
You must claim a survivor's pension from the compensation fund to which the deceased last paid contributions.
You must submit the pension application form, which you can download online.
If the deceased paid OASI contributions partly in Switzerland and partly in one or more EU or EFTA member states, you can send the pension application form to their last country of residence. If you do so, the procedures in the other countries are triggered automatically.
If you live abroad, you must contact the Swiss compensation fund to find out the exact procedure.
In order to receive a widow's, widower's or orphan's pension, you must meet certain conditions. You will find the relevant eligibility requirements on the website of the Central Compensation Office.
The brochure issued by the OASI/IV information office on OASI survivors' pensions contains detailed information on this subject.
The occupational pension scheme (OPA, 2nd pillar) may provide for an additional survivor's pension. You will find more detailed information on this subject at The 2nd pillar. You can also contact the deceased person's pension fund.