Questions about partner's or orphan's pension

Your partner is the person you are married to or in a registered partnership. From 1 January 2026, you will also have a partner if you live together without being married. You do not need to have a cohabitation contract with the notary, but you do need to have a joint household. You can show this, for example, with a rental or purchase contract from you together. Your partner is then entitled to a partner's pension if you die.

As long as you accrue pension (and therefore pay contributions), your partner and children are co-insured for a survivor's pension. If you die, your partner will receive 35%* of your annual salary. Every year as long as your partner lives. For your children, this is 15%* of your average salary for that year. They will receive an orphan's pension from 1 January 2026 until they are 25 years old (in the scheme this is from now until the age of 18). 

*The letter with the first calculation states an even lower percentage (30% and 12%). We have been able to increase this percentage.

Are you retiring from your employer? Then your partner and children will no longer be entitled to a survivor's pension based on your salary with that employer from three months after you have stopped. They will receive a pension from the pension capital that you accrued before 1 January 2026 when you die. 

You may be able to insure yourself with us for a survivor's pension if you stop working. There are rules for that.

In the new scheme, your pension will be variable. This means that your pension moves in line with the economy every year. As a result, your pension may change slightly every year. This will be possible for the first time in 2027. We have a reserve. In this way, we supplement your pension and prevent it from being lower as much as possible. Only in the special case that our reserve is empty, your pension benefit will be reduced. The chance that your pension will be lower is therefore much smaller than the chance that it will be higher.

The new scheme will take effect from 1 January 2026. In the new scheme, something changes in the rules for partner's and orphan's pension. We expect your pension to be higher then. You won't notice this until July 2026. Then you will receive a final calculation and a new monthly amount from us. Is your pension higher? Then you will also be paid the difference from the previous months. 

This is because we will not have all the employers' data complete until the first months of 2026. Only then can we determine our fund assets. And if we know that, we can calculate how much everyone gets. That is why you will only hear in July how high your monthly amount will be.

Yes, we expect that. When switching to this scheme, everyone will receive an extra amount. For you, this means that your monthly benefit will be higher. We get the extra amount from our fund assets. This is called allocation. The amount of that extra amount depends on the financial situation of our fund assets on 1 January 2026.

The chance is small. In the new scheme, your pension will be variable. This means that your pension moves in line with the economy every year. Your pension can therefore be higher each year, but possibly also lower. This will be possible for the first time in 2027. StiPP has a reserve for setbacks, which we call the risk-sharing reserve. This allows us to absorb a decrease in your pension. Only in the special case that our reserve is empty, your pension benefit will be reduced. The chance that your pension will be lower is therefore much smaller than the chance that it will be higher. 

Do you receive a supplement in addition to your partner's or orphan's pension, for example a healthcare or rent allowance? Then your allowance amount may change in 2026. This is because your monthly pension benefit may be higher or lower as of 1 January 2026. You won't notice this until July 2026. Then you will receive a final calculation and a new monthly amount from us. Is your pension higher? Then you will also be paid the difference from the previous months.

Will you receive more pension? Then there is a chance that you will have to repay the excess allowance received in 2026. Are you receiving less pension? Then you may be entitled to more allowance. Check belastingdienst.nl/toeslagen for more information. 

We adjust the amount of your pension once a year. This will only happen for the first time in 2027. You will receive a message in advance. If the economy is doing well, your pension will be higher. If things are not going so well, we will supplement your pension (as much as possible) from StiPP's reserves.

You will receive a personal message about your pension benefit in October 2025. In it you will find a first provisional calculation of the pension you will receive under the new scheme. You will receive a letter with the final calculation around July 2026.

If you already receive a partner's pension, this will continue as usual. The benefit will be converted, as with the retirement pension, from a fixed pension benefit to a variable pension benefit. It then moves with the economy. As a result, your pension may increase or decrease each year. We have a reserve that we use to prevent reductions in your pension benefit.

Your partner is the person you are married to or in a registered partnership. From 1 January 2026, you will also have a partner if you live together without being married. You do not need to have a cohabitation contract with the notary, but you do need to have a joint household. You can show this, for example, with a rental or purchase contract from you together. Your partner is then entitled to a partner's pension if you die.

Are you married or in a registered partnership? Then we will automatically receive your partner's details from the municipality. Do you live together? Then we do not have any details of your partner. But in the event of death, we always check whether there is a partner who is entitled to a survivor's pension. You don't need to have a cohabitation contract at the notary for that, but you do need to have a joint household. Would you still like to register your partner? That's possible. Send us a copy of your cohabitation agreement or, for example, a rental or purchase contract of you together via the contact form .

In the new scheme, your partner will no longer be entitled to a partner's pension. The only exception? In the event of death within the first three months after you stopped working. However, your partner is still entitled to the partner's pension accrued until 1 January 2026. 

That depends on the economy. The survivor's pension will be variable in the new scheme. This means that this pension moves slightly with the economy every year and depends on investment results, average life expectancy and interest rates. The partner's and orphan's pension can therefore be higher or slightly lower each year. Your children will receive an orphan's pension under the new scheme until they turn 25. In the current scheme, this is up to the age of 18. 

If you die while accruing pension with StiPP, your partner will receive a lifelong benefit. Your children will receive benefits until they are 25 years old. The amount of these benefits is a percentage of your average salary over the last year (12 months). You can read more about this on the page Survivor's pension in the new scheme.

If you are already receiving an orphan's pension at the moment, this will continue until you turn 18. The benefit will be converted to a variable benefit, as is the case with the partner's pension and retirement pension. It then moves with the economy. As a result, your pension may increase or decrease each year. If your orphan's pension starts after 1 January 2026, you will receive an orphan's pension until you turn 25. 

In the new scheme, only children who are younger than 18 on 1 January 2026 are still entitled to the accrued orphan's pension.