Claiming a Survivor's Pension in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• Your spouse, partner, or parent has died and paid into Portuguese social security.
• You are a child, stepchild, or dependent relative of someone who died.
• You need to know what to claim, by when, and with which documents.

Not for you if: you need to sort out the will, the estate, and inheritance tax. Read Making a Will and Handling an Inheritance in Portugal instead.

When someone who paid into Segurança Social dies, their family can claim two payments. The survivor's pension (pensão de sobrevivência) is a monthly payment. A widow, widower, or partner gets 60% of the pension the person received, or would have received. The person must have paid in for at least 36 months. The death grant (subsídio por morte) is a one-off payment of €1,611.39 in 2026. Claim the pension within six months of registering the death to be paid from the month after the death. Claim the grant within 180 days.

The two payments

The survivor's pension replaces part of the income the family lost. It is a percentage of the old-age or disability pension the person was getting, or would have been entitled to on the date of death.

The death grant is paid once. It is three times the social support index (IAS), so €1,611.39 in 2026.

You claim both from Segurança Social, the social security service, on the same claim form. Nothing happens automatically when a death is registered. The family must apply.

Who can claim

The rules depend on your relationship to the person who died.

Spouse. If you had no children together, you must have been married for at least one year. That does not apply if the death was caused by an accident, or by an illness that began after the marriage. It also does not apply if you lived together as partners for more than two years before marrying. Unborn children count as children.

Unmarried partner. You qualify if you lived together as partners (união de facto) for more than two years and the person who died was not married. Same-sex couples have the same rights.

Former spouse. If you were divorced or legally separated, you qualify only if the person who died had to pay you maintenance (pensão de alimentos). The maintenance must have been set or approved by a court or the civil registry.

Children. Biological and adopted children qualify:

• up to age 18, whether or not they study or work;
• from 18 to 25, if enrolled in secondary school, post-secondary training, or higher education;
• up to 27, if enrolled in a postgraduate course, master's, or doctorate, or doing a required traineeship;
• at any age, if they have a disability and receive family benefits or the social inclusion benefit.

From age 18, a child must not have work that requires social security registration. Holiday jobs are allowed. So is employee pay of up to 14 times the minimum wage a year, which is €12,880 in 2026.

Stepchildren under 18 qualify if the person who died had to pay them maintenance.

Grandchildren and great-grandchildren qualify if the person who died supported them. The same age and study rules apply.

Parents and grandparents qualify if the person who died supported them, and no spouse, partner, former spouse, or child gets the pension.

What the person who died must have paid

For a survivor's pension, the person who died must have paid into:

• the general social security scheme, or the rural scheme, for at least 36 months; or
• the voluntary social insurance scheme for at least 72 months.

The months do not have to be in a row. If the person paid into the civil service scheme (Caixa Geral de Aposentações), that scheme handles the claim instead.

How much the survivor's pension pays

The pension is a share of the old-age or disability pension the person was getting, or would have got.

The children's shares double if no spouse, partner, or former spouse gets the pension.

Former spouses. The pension cannot be more than the maintenance the person who died was paying.

Fourteen payments a year. You get a double payment in July and in December.

Example. Your husband had an old-age pension of €900 a month. You are the only claimant, so you get 60%: €540 a month. If you also have a child under 18, the child gets 20%: €180.

How long it lasts

Spouse, partner, or former spouse:

• If you were under 35 when the person died, you get the pension for five years.
• If you have children together who receive the pension, it lasts until the end of the year they stop receiving it.
• If you were 35 or older, or reach 35 while receiving it, it has no time limit.
• It also has no limit if you are completely unable to work.

Children: until 18, 25, or 27, depending on their studies, or with no limit if they have a disability (see above). Students keep the pension over the summer holidays.

Stepchildren: until 18.

When it ends. The pension stops if you marry or start living with a new partner. It also stops if a parent or a disabled child starts getting their own old-age or disability pension.

The death grant

The death grant is €1,611.39 in 2026, paid once. The same family members can claim it as for the survivor's pension. If none of them exist, other relatives who were supported by the person can claim, such as brothers, sisters, or in-laws.

The deadline is 180 days from the date the death was registered.

Funeral costs. Whoever paid for the funeral can claim the funeral costs back from Segurança Social, even if they are not family. That refund comes out of the same amount. If the funeral cost less than €1,611.39, the family gets the difference as the death grant. For example, if someone else paid a €1,000 funeral, the family gets €611.39.

The six-month rule

There is no final deadline for the survivor's pension. When you claim changes when payment starts.

• Within six months of registering the death: the pension is paid from the month after the death. You get the back payments.
• After six months: the pension is paid only from the month after you apply. The months before are lost.

So claim as soon as you can.

How to apply

1. Register the death. Deaths in Portugal are registered at the civil registry. Get a death certificate, or the full birth certificate showing the death.
2. Get a social security number if you need one. If you have no Portuguese social security number (NISS), apply with form RV 1006 (foreign nationals) or RV 1017.
3. Fill in the claim. Online, go to Segurança Social Direta at seg-social.pt, then Família, then Óbito, then Pensão de Sobrevivência. On paper, use form RP 5075 (claim for death benefits). It covers both the pension and the death grant.
4. Add the extra forms that apply to you. See the list below.
5. Hand it in. Online, at any Segurança Social office, or by post to the district centre where you live. If you live in another EU country or an agreement country, you can claim through its social security body.
6. Wait for the decision. It takes about 50 days on average. The first payment arrives about 60 days after you apply.

Documents everyone needs:

• A valid identity document, such as a citizen card, passport, or residence permit.
• Your tax number (NIF), if you have no citizen card.
• The death certificate, or the full birth certificate of the person who died, showing the death.
• A bank document showing your IBAN in your name, if you want payment by bank transfer.
• Proof of the person's military service, if it was not already on their record.
• A disability certificate showing 60% or more, if this applies to you.

Extra documents by situation:

• Unmarried partner: form RP 5083, certified by your parish council (junta de freguesia), and up-to-date full birth certificates for you and the person who died. Segurança Social can ask for more proof.
• Spouse: your up-to-date full birth certificate.
• Former spouse: the divorce judgment granting maintenance, and your full birth certificate.
• Children aged 18 to 27: proof of enrolment, and a yearly school record (prova escolar) on the portal by 31 July.
• Parents or grandparents: form RP 5086, showing you were supported.
• If the death was an accident: form RP 5078.
• If the person worked abroad: their social security number in each country, and form RP 5077.

If the person worked in other countries

If the person who died worked in another EU country, the UK, or an agreement country, those years can help meet the 36 months. On your claim, give the country, the dates, and their social security number there. Segurança Social passes the claim on. The other country may also pay a survivor's pension and may ask you for documents. See How Your Years Working Abroad Count toward a Pension in Portugal.

Can you get it with other income?

Spouses and partners can receive the survivor's pension on top of their own old-age or disability pension, from Portugal or abroad.

Children and parents cannot receive it on top of their own old-age or disability pension.

Work accidents. If the death was caused by a work accident or occupational disease, the work accident insurer pays first. Segurança Social pays only any difference.

Compensation. If the family received compensation for lost income from whoever caused the death, the pension can be paused until the payments would have equalled it.

Tax. The survivor's pension is taxed as pension income, with tax withheld each month.

Your duties

Tell Segurança Social if:

• your address or IBAN changes;
• you marry or start living with a partner;
• a child stops studying.

If you received money you were not entitled to, you must pay it back, usually within 30 days of the notice. You can ask to pay in instalments. Using false information to get the pension can bring a fine of €74.82 to €249.40.

If money is very tight

If the person who died had not paid in for long enough, you may still get help. If you are over pension age and on a low income, see Claiming the Elderly Solidarity Supplement (CSI) in Portugal. Younger families on a low income can look at Getting Social Integration Income (RSI) in Portugal.

From 31 December 2026, a new single social benefit replaces several means-tested payments, including social integration income and the non-contributory widow's and orphan's pensions. People already receiving them keep their current amounts. The contribution-based survivor's pension in this guide is not affected.

Contacts

• Segurança Social line: 210 545 400 or 300 502 502, working days, 09:00 to 18:00.
• Appointments line: 210 548 888 or 300 088 888.
• Online: seg-social.pt (Segurança Social Direta).

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change often; check the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

• Instituto da Segurança Social, practical guide to the survivor's pension (version 4.52, published 21 May 2026): https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmc1zx9pk00mgkl2y92k394t9 (who can claim, one-year marriage rule and exceptions, partners over two years, former spouses, children's age and study limits, €12,880 earnings limit, 36 and 72 months, 60% and 70%, children's and parents' shares, doubling, maintenance cap, July and December, start date and six months, 60-day first payment, duration and the under-35 rule, end on marriage or new partner, where to apply, forms RP 5075, RP 5078, RV 1017, RV 1006, RP 5077, RP 5083, RP 5086, documents, about 50 days, overlapping benefits, work accidents, compensation, duties, 30-day repayment, €74.82 to €249.40 fine, contact lines), checked 2 October 2026
• gov.pt, Pedir a pensão de sobrevivência (updated 27 March 2026): https://www.gov.pt/servicos/requerer-a-pensao-de-sobrevivencia (36 and 72 months, who can claim, any time after registration, six-month rule, duration), checked 2 October 2026
• gov.pt, Pedir o subsídio por morte (updated 13 April 2026): https://www.gov.pt/servicos/requerer-o-subsidio-por-morte (€1,611.39 or three times the IAS, paid once, who can claim including other relatives, 180 days from registration of the death, funeral refund interaction and €611.39 example), checked 2 October 2026
• Instituto da Segurança Social, practical guide to the funeral grant (published 2026): https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmc1z63t400j3kl2y4u8sjx1u (funeral grant where there is no right to the death grant), checked 2 October 2026
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 166/2026, of 13 August (single social benefit): https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2026/08/15600/0001100041.pdf (13 non-contributory benefits merged, including social integration income and the widow's and orphan's pensions; current amounts guaranteed; effect from 31 December 2026), checked 2 October 2026
• Segurança Social, international coordination: https://www.seg-social.pt/coordenacao-internacional-de-legislacoes (EU and bilateral coordination), carried from verified guide W26
• Diário da República, Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1 (IAS of €537.13 for 2026): https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/portaria/480-a-2025-993056222
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 139/2025, of 29 December: https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/decreto-lei/139-2025-992879809 (2026 minimum wage of €920), carried from verified guide W2A-01

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.