Pensioners who receive the minimum pension (whether or not supplemented with the complement to minimums) and their family situation changes, becoming a dependent spouse, they can request an update of the amount from Social Security. In 2026, this means that, from not having a spouse to having one dependent, the minimum retirement pension for those over 65 years of age rises to 320.40 euros per month, and that by 2027 it could be around 415 euros.
Social Security has three types of situations, and each one has a minimum pension. In 2026 and, according to Royal Decree 241/2026, the following are the following for retirees aged 65 or over in 14 payments:
- With a dependent spouse (living with the retiree and financially dependent on him) the minimum pension is 1,256.60 euros per month.
- With a non-dependent spouse (you live with him, but do not depend on him financially, for example because he receives his own pension) the minimum is 888.70 euros per month.
- Without a spouse, what the law calls a single-person economic unit (single, widowed, divorced or legally separated), the amount is 936.20 euros per month.
Social Security for “dependent spouse” who does not receive a public pension, including “pensions recognized by another State”, and that the income of both, not counting the pension that is complemented, remains in 2026 below 11,013 euros per year, as long as it is completed by the minimum supplement. In the case of being “without a dependent spouse”, the limit is 9,442 euros. Both amounts will be updated in 2027, as will the revaluation of pensions.
Increase in the minimum pension for each family change in 2027
The minimum retirement pensions of those who live without a spouse are higher than those who live with a spouse and have their own pension, in such a way that marrying someone who already receives it lowers the minimum pension. The amounts for 2026 and estimates for 2027 would be as follows:
| Change in the situation of a retiree aged 65 or older | 2026 (euros per month, current) | 2027 (euros per month, estimated) |
|---|---|---|
| Without a spouse, you marry someone without a pension or income | +320.40 | about +415 |
| Your spouse stops collecting the pension he or she had | +367.90 | about +466 |
| Without a spouse, you marry someone who already receives a pension | −47.50 | about −52 |
| Your dependent spouse begins to collect a pension | −367.90 | about −466 |
| Judicial separation or divorce with dependent spouse | −320.40 | about −415 |
| Judicial separation or divorce with a spouse with their own pension | +47.50 | about +52 |
The amounts for 2027 are indicative and applying the fifty-third additional provision of the General Social Security Lawwhich requires that the minimum with a dependent spouse reach that year the poverty threshold of a two-adult household and gives the rest half of that extra percentage, with a general estimated revaluation of 3.5%according to forecasts from entities such as Funcas. There is still no date for the increase, since everything will depend on the Government in office after the elections on November 29.
The increase in the minimum pension is only charged if the pension received is below the minimum that existed before the change, and the reductions can only be made in full if it is below the new one. For example, a retiree with a pension of 800 euros and no other income today receives a supplement of 136.20 euros to reach 936.20, and if he marries a person without a pension or income the supplement increases to 456.60, 320.40 euros more per month.
In the case of having a pension of 1,100 euros, for which no supplement would be collected right now, you would collect 156.60 euros, and above 1,256.60 you will not receive any (in pensions caused since 2013, in addition, the supplement cannot exceed 1,068.96 euros per month in 2026 with a dependent spouse).
You must request the increase and notify within a month if the spouse is no longer in charge.
The increase is requested at the Social Security electronic headquarters or at the INSS offices with prior appointment. As explained by article 53.1 of the General Social Security Law gives the new amount “a maximum retroactivity of three months from the date of presentation of said request”, and article 9.8 of the royal decree applies the same rule to the supplement requested after the pension is recognized.
With this, if the retiree in the previous example misses seven months from the wedding, he recovers three and loses four monthly payments of the difference. Waiting for the 2027 amounts to request it doesn’t give you anything either, because the new minimums also apply to those who already receive the supplement.
When the minimum decreases because the dependent spouse begins to collect a pension (also if he or she is from another country) or because there is a judicial separation or divorce, article 10.5 obliges the retiree to declare it “within the month following the moment in which it occurs,” and the loss takes effect from the 1st of the month following the change (article 10.6).
The retiree without a spouse who marries someone who already receives a pension does not have that period in the royal decree, although Social Security asks to communicate a new marriage in a maximum of 30 days in its process to communicate the spouse’s data.
He owes more than 94,000 euros to Social Security from his time as a businessman, he pays them to be able to retire and the court only gives him the pension from the day he settled the debt
Social Security will increase retirement pensions by 57 euros per month on average in 2027 if the November CPI reaches 4.5%, but only 55 if it drops to 4.3%
If you do not do so, Social Security may ask you to return what was improperly collected. In addition, not communicating the changes “at the time they occur”, when it is charged improperly, is a serious violation of the article 25.3 of the Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Orderwhich article 47.1.b of that law punishes with the loss of pension for three months. These situations have already occurred, such as that of retiree from whom Social Security claimed 5,136.60 euros of the 2015 minimum supplement because his income exceeded the limit and he had not filed the declaration.