We take care of your family

If a participant passes away, we still have an immediate obligation to take care of their family. Provided that the participant was still married when they died, we pay their surviving spouse a widow’s or widower’s pension from the day after the participant’s death (in accordance with § 29 para. 6 of our Statutes, a registered civil partnership has the same status as a marriage). If the deceased participant was already drawing a disability pension or retirement pension from the Architects’ Pension Fund (VwdA) at the time of death, we will pay the widow’s or widower’s pension from the following month. The widow’s or widower’s pension paid by the VwdA generally amounts to 60% of the pension paid before the participant’s death.

We pay the widow’s or widower’s pension without the need for recipients to meet any special requirements, such as a lack of financial means or financial dependence on their spouse. The pension is generally paid for life. If the widow or widower remarries, we will make them a one-off payment equivalent to three times the amount of the annual widow’s or widower’s pension, after which the pension entitlement ceases.

Documents for your application

In addition to submitting their application form with their personal details and details of their health insurance, the widow or widower needs to send us their birth certificate and the marriage and death certificate.