I am a widow/widower

• If you became a widow or widower, you can contact us regarding the widow pension but you have to meet at least one of the following conditions:
  • You have reached the retirement age.
  • You lost full or partial capacity for work. 
• Regarding the assignment of this pension, you must apply to a "Sodra’s" department and submit an application for a widow's pension (lithuanian).
• A decision regarding the assignment of pension will be made within 30 days.
• The widow pension is paid on a monthly basis for the current month.
• The widow pension is paid for the rest of life or until next marriage.

  If you apply to "Sodra" at a later date, the pension you are entitled to will be paid retroactively but for a period not exceeding 12 months before submitting the request with all the documents.

• Widow or widower who has reached the retirement age, irrespective of their age at the time of their spouse's death.
• A widow or widower who has been recognised as incapacitated or having partial capacity for work (until 1 July 2005 – as a person with disabilities), if he/she was not recognised as such until the death of his/her spouse or within 5 years after the death of his/her spouse or at the time when he/she was nursing the deceased person’s children (foster children) recognised as incapacitated (until 1 July 2005 – disabled) at home until they reached the age of 18, as well as children (foster children) of the deceased who lost 75–100 percent of their capacity for work (until 1 July 2005 – I disability group), if these children (foster children) were recognised as incapacitated (until 1 July 2005 – disabled) until they reached the age of 18.
• The above mentioned conditions for assigning widow pensions shall not be applied, if the spouse died until 1 June 1991.
• Persons who had no children with the deceased spouse has the right to receive a widow pension only if at least one year has passed from the marriage registration under established procedure until the date of the spouse’s death.
• The pension shall not be assigned and the payment of an assigned pension shall be terminated when a person marries again.

The deceased should have met the following conditions by the date of his/her death (these conditions shall not apply if the person died before 1 June 1991):

• Gained the right to receive a pension for lost working capacity (disability) or a retirement pension or received one of these pensions.
• The deceased received the minimum work experience for the corresponding type of pension in enterprises, institutions or organisations of Lithuania, the European Union or the member states that have signed the agreement on the European Economic Area (rehabilitated political prisoners and formerly exiled persons who acquired a part of the work experience during their imprisonment or in exile are not required to obtain the minimum work experience).

An application (lithuanian) for a widow's pension. It can be submitted:

1. Online, by signing in to your personal Sodra resident’s account and choosing an application (lithuanian) for a widow's pension.
2. By mail. The application form can be found here (lithuanian). The application must be accompanied by an officially certified copy of the identity document.
3. At "Sodra’s" department. You need to have:

• An ID (a passport or ID card of a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania or a member state of the European Union, a passport of the Republic of Lithuania, a permanent residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania, or a temporary residence permit in the Republic of Lithuania).
• You also need to have details of your personal account to which the pension will be paid.

Documents that may be additionally needed:

• Certificate of death, statement of the death record (copy, transcription), if there is no data in the Population Register of the Republic of Lithuania on the death of the person.
• Marriage certificate, statement on previous marriage or an excerpt certifying the marriage record (copy, transcription), if there is no data in the Population Register of the Republic of Lithuania on the marriage.
• Statement on the level of capacity for work issued by the Disability and Working Capacity Assessment Office (statement of disability issued by the State Medical Social Expertise Commission before 1 July 2005), if the right to receive a widow pension depends on the person's incapacity (disability).
• Documents certifying the amount of work experience accumulated by the deceased, if "Sodra" has not accumulated such data.

• As of 2021, the basic amount of the widow pension is €22.63.
• As of 1 January of every year the basic amount of the widow pension is indexed according to an approved indexing coefficient. The widow pensions amounting to 50 percent and 20 percent of the pension that was received by (or available to) the deceased will be indexed only when the basic amount of the widow pension exceeds these amounts.

The widow pension is paid for the current month.

The widow pension may be:

1. Transferred to your personal account.
2. Delivered at your home between the 10th and 26th day of each month, if:
   1. you received your pension at home in December 2009;
   2. you lost 75–100% capacity for work or you have a special need for permanent nursing, special need for regular care (assistance), special need for the compensation of transport expenses, or a high level of special needs;
   3. you live in areas where you do not have the ability to cash out;
   4. you are 80 years old or older.
3. Collect it at a payment institution, e.g. at a branch office of Lietuvos paštas AB.

• The widow pension can be paid until the end of life.
• The widow pension shall no longer be paid when a person marries again.
• Upon the death of the widow pension’s recipient, the persons who buried him/her receive a pension for the month of his/her death (if it has not been paid already) as well as a benefit equal to the amount of another month of the pension.