I am an orphan

• After the death of one or both of the parents (foster parents), the orphan children may receive an orphan pension.
• A request to receive an orphan pension can be submitted online, upon signing in to your personal "Sodra" resident’s account, by mail or at any "Sodra’s" department.
• A decision regarding the assignment of pension will be made within 30 days.
• The orphan pension is paid on a monthly basis for the current month.

  You can contact "Sodra" regarding the assignment of an orphan pension to children who became orphans upon the death of one or both of the parents.

  The orphan pension can be assigned as of the moment when a child gets the right to receive it. If you apply to "Sodra" at a later date, the pension will be paid retroactively but for a period not exceeding 6 months before submitting the request with all the documents.

• Children and foster children up to 18 years old.
• Children and foster children over the age of 18 years, if they are recognised as incapacitated or having partial capacity for work (before 1 July 2005 – as people with disabilities) before the date (inclusive) on which they become 24 years old, as well as those who due to the consequences of an illness or injury that have occurred before they became 24 years old were recognised as incapacitated or having partial capacity for work (until 1 July 2005 – as people with disabilities) after their 24th birth date, but not later than the date (inclusive) on which they become 26 years of age, provided they have been permanently incapacitated or have had partial capacity for work (people with disabilities) since the date they were recognised as incapacitated or having partial capacity for work (people with disabilities). The right to receive an orphan pension remains available when the orphan recognised as an incapacitated or having partial capacity for work (until 1 July 2005 – as a person with disabilities) reaches the retirement age during the period of receiving the orphan pension.
• Children and foster children, if they are pupils of general education programmes or formal vocational education programmes and students of higher education programmes who have reached the age of 18 before completing their studies under respective programmes (except for pupils in general education programmes who are entitled to an orphan pension until 31 August of the year when they graduate from these programmes) but only until they reach the age of 24.

Orphans, who have been adopted after 01-01-2018, have no longer the right to receive a pension.

Similarly, 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).

The application (lithuanian) to receive the orphan pension. It can be submitted:

1. Online, by signing in to your personal Sodra resident’s account and choosing The application (lithuanian) to receive the orphan 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.

• For a person entitled to an orphan pension, this pension is calculated on the basis of the amount of the total and individual parts of the pension that was received by or available to the deceased person.
• Upon the death of the recipient of an orphan pension, a lost working capacity (disability) pension or an advance retirement pension, the orphan pension is calculated on the basis of the amounts of the total and individual parts of the pension received by the deceased.
• In the event of the death of a person who has already reached the retirement age but who has not received a retirement pension, the orphan pension is calculated on the basis of the amounts of the total and individual parts of the retirement pension that were available to the deceased.
• In the event of the death of a person (when the person is declared dead) who has not reached the retirement age, the orphan pension is calculated on the basis of the amounts of the total and individual parts of the lost working capacity pension calculated for persons who lost 65 percent of their capacity for work (if the person died (was declared dead) until 1 July 2005 – the amount of the II disability group pension).
• In the event of the death (when the person is declared dead) of a recipient of lost working capacity (disability) pension, who was recognised as having lost 45–60 percent of his/her capacity for work (until 1 July 2005 – a III disability group person), the orphan pension is calculated on the basis of the amounts of the total and individual parts of the lost working capacity pension that would have been available to the deceased (person declared dead), calculated for persons who lost 65 percent of the capacity for work (the amount of II disability group pension).

The amount of the orphan pension is 50 percent of the amount of the total and individual parts of the pensions.

  If orphan pensions are assigned to two or more children (foster children), each of them are assign an equal part which may not exceed 100 percent of the total calculated amount of the lost working capacity (disability) pension or the general and individual parts of the retirement pension.

If after the orphan pension is assigned another orphan (or orphans) applies for its assignment or payment and therefore reduces the part of the lost working capacity (disability) or retirement pension per orphan, the orphan pension is recalculated from the first day of the month following the month in which a new request with all the necessary documents were received.

• 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.
• Orphan birth certificates or excerpts certifying the orphan birth records (copies, transcriptions), if there is no data in the Population Register of the Republic of Lithuania on the marriage.
• Certificates of educational institutions, if the orphans are over 18 years of age, attend a school or higher education institution, if there is no such data in the Pupil and Student Register of the Centre of Information Technologies in Education.
• 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 or orphan pension depends on the person's incapacity (disability).

• A decision regarding the assignment of pension must be made within 30 days from when a request with all the necessary documents were received at a "Sodra’s" department.
• The orphan pension is paid for the current month.

You can receive your orphan pension:

• To your personal account.
• Delivered to your home.
• Collect it at a payment institution, e.g. at a branch office of Lietuvos paštas AB.

  You can choose your pension delivery method according to the rules established in the Description for the Delivery of Pensions and Compensations.

Pension transfer to the personal accounts in banks or credit unions:

• Between the 7th and 12th day of each month – pensions that were first assigned until 29/02/2012.
• Between the 20th and 26th day of each month – pensions that were first assigned after 29/02/2012 as well as those that were paid on the 27–28th day of December 2011 or September 2012.

Pensions can be delivered to the homes of all the persons who:

• lost 75–100 percent capacity for work (I disability group persons) or who have a special need for permanent nursing, special need for regular care (assistance), or a high level of special needs;
• live in places where it is impossible to pay benefits in any other way;
• the pension is delivered between the 10th and 26th day of each month.

Pension payment at a payment institution can be chosen when:

• it is impossible to cash out the benefit if it is transferred to your personal account;
• you meet the conditions for receiving the benefit at home;
• the pension is paid at payment institutions between the 10th and 26th day of each month.

  If the set pension delivery date is Saturday, the pension will be delivered on Friday. If the set pension delivery date is Sunday, the pension will be delivered on Monday. If the set pension delivery date is an official holiday, the pension will be delivered on the business day prior to that holiday. If the set pension delivery date is the last business day of the month, the pension will be delivered on the preceding business day.

  The children of the deceased may receive an orphan pension:

1. until they reach the age of 18 (for the pensions assigned as of 01/01/2018);
2. until their 24th birth day (not inclusive) or the expiry date of their level of working capacity (inclusive), if the orphan pension is assigned to an orphan of 18 years old or older, who studies at an education institution or is recognised as incapacitated or having partial capacity for work.

  If after the assignment of an orphan pension, before the expiry of its assignment term, certain circumstances arise as a result of which the payment of the pension must be suspended/terminated (the orphan has stopped his/her studies, etc.), the payment of the orphan pension shall be suspended from the first day of the month following the month when said circumstances arose.

 For example, as of 01/02/2020 an orphan pension is assigned to a minor orphan. He will reach the age of 18 on 18/03/2021. Therefore, he will be assigned and paid the orphan pension from 01/02/2020 until 17/03/2021. Since the orphan studies, the orphan pension assignment term will be extended from 18/03/2023 until 17/03/2027. If this orphan suspended his education on 10/05/2023, he would no longer receive the pension as of 01/06/2023. If he resumed his education on 01/09/2023, he would again receive the orphan pension from 01/09/2023 (if the orphan met the conditions set out in the Law on Social Insurance Pensions) until 17/03/2027.

If you are studying in Lithuania

If you are an adult but are under 24 years of age and are learning or studying in educational institutions of the Republic of Lithuania under a general education, formal vocational education or permanent study programme, you do not need to provide certificates of learning/studying to “Sodra”. “Sodra” receives data about the fact of learning/studying and the type of programs from the Student Registers. According to this data, the payment of orphan's pensions shall start/continue.

At the beginning of the school year and without receiving an orphan's pension, the reason for not receiving the pension can be found out in the following ways:

• By phone number 1883 or (+370) 5 250 0883 at the “Sodra’s” Information Centre. Personal information shall be provided by telephone only after identification of the person.
• When you sign in to your personal “Sodra” account for a resident and submit an electronic enquiry (selecting Žinutės → Rašyti žinutę) or when you start a real-time chat (liet. Pokalbis internetu).
• With an identity card upon arrival at any customer service department of “Sodra”.

Important! For orphans who are 18 years of age or older and start learning or studying, the payment of the orphan's pension shall start from the date of commencement of education indicated in the Register of Students. The orphan's pension shall be paid in September upon receipt of data from the Registers of Students.

If you are studying abroad

If you are an adult before the age of 24 and are learning or studying in a foreign country, you must present a certificate of education issued by the educational institution at the beginning of each school year (or before the beginning of the school year). This certificate must be issued not earlier than one month before the beginning of the school year.

In the absence of a certificate, the payment of the orphan's pension shall be suspended from the beginning of the new school year.

Upon receipt of a certificate, the payment of the orphan's pension shall be renewed from the day of its suspension and shall be extended until the beginning of the next school year, or, if the orphan ends his education in that year or reaches the age of 24, until the day of completion or the day on which he reaches the age of 24.

Requirements for certificates about learning/studying:

• the original of the certificate or a copy of the certificate certified in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts must be provided;
• the date of issue of the certificate;
• the orphan's name, surname and date of birth;
• the name, faculty, study programme, course (semester) of the educational establishment indicated;
• the duration of studies indicated (that is, the exact date of start of studies and the estimated date of completion of studies);
• the stated form of study (permanent (full-time));
• the certificate must be signed.

Please note:

• A learning certificate issued in the language of a Member State of the European Union shall not be translated into the Lithuanian language. However, a learning certificate issued by a non-EU Member State must be legalized or certified (Apostille). The original of the certificate should be submitted to the “Sodra’s” Vilnius department or sent by post to Kalvariju str. 147, LT-08352 Vilnius.
• If a learning institution issues only electronic certificates, you can submit them when you sign in to your personal “Sodra” account for a resident by submitting a free-form application. The application must be accompanied by a certificate of learning/studying. An electronic certificate (signed with electronic signature) of learning/studying may also be provided by an e-mail [email protected].