Pensioners who collect a widow’s pension, are 65 years old or older and do not have sufficient income may increase their amount up to 60% of the regulatory base. Thus, as stated in the thirtieth additional provision of Law 27/2011, although the widow’s pension is generally equivalent to 52% of the regulatory base, this percentage can increase as long as a series of economic requirements are met.
This is because Social Security understands that, upon turning 65 and not having another source of income, the widow’s pension may be insufficient. Therefore, in these cases, the amount can increase up to 60% of the regulatory base. Furthermore, since it is an improvement linked to the lack of financial resources, not all pensioners can access it, since there are income limits that cannot be exceeded.
Now, it must be clear that this is a right that can only be accessed by widow pensioners who meet the requirements, so it should not be confused with a general increase that is made every year. The key is that it is not automatically applied for turning 65, but only in cases in which this pension constitutes the beneficiary’s main or only source of income.
Requirements that I must meet for my widow’s pension to rise to 60%
Widow pensioners who want to access this improvement must meet each and every one of the following requirements. This is established by the thirtieth additional provision of Law 27/2011 (can be consulted in this Official State Gazette), which states that the amount will rise to 60% when these circumstances occur in the beneficiary:
- Have an age equal to or greater than 65 years.
- Not have the right to another public pension, whether Spanish or foreign.
- Not receiving income from performing work as an employee or self-employed person.
- Not have other returns or income (capital, capital gains…) that exceed, on an annual basis, the income limit set to be a beneficiary of the minimum widow’s pension.
This means that the improvement is designed to protect those who, when they reach an advanced age, depend almost exclusively on the widow’s pension to live. The law introduced this measure progressively, and it is now fully in force.
Practical example of the rise
To understand it better, let’s look at it with a practical example. A 70-year-old pensioner receives a widow’s pension and has no other income, nor does she work, nor does she receive any other pension, assuming that her husband, now deceased, had a regulatory base of 1,500 euros per month.
Under normal conditions, this pensioner would receive 52% of her spouse’s regulatory base, that is, a pension of 780 euros per month. Now, as you meet all the special conditions required by law (being over 65 and having no other income), Social Security will apply the improved percentage of 60% on the same regulatory basis, recalculating your pension to 900 euros per month.
In this way, this pensioner will not receive the 780 euros, but rather Social Security will pay her 120 euros more each month for life, leaving her a final pension of 900 euros. Although improvement is a recognized right for this group, it must be known that the regulations are inflexible in terms of economic requirements, with no possibility of accessing it if the established income limits are exceeded.