Overview

• From July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026 the monthly survivor income exemption is €1,076.86 after a 3.74% pension rise, with an extra €228.42 per eligible child.
• Only the portion of a survivor’s pauschal net income above the threshold reduces benefits, with 40% of the excess deducted under Deutsche Rentenversicherung rules.
• Eligibility and levels remain unchanged: the large survivor pension equals 55% of the deceased’s pension or 60% under older marriage rules, the small pension equals 25%, with the age threshold for the large pension set to 46 years and 6 months for deaths in 2026.
• During the Sterbevierteljahr no income is counted against the survivor benefit for the first three months after the month of death.
• An inheritance itself does not reduce payments; only income generated from inherited assets counts under new-law cases, while asset income is typically ignored under old-law protection, with media citing about 538,000 zero-payment cases due to income offsets.