ZUS starts paying widow's pension. First transfers soon

From July 2025, the Social Insurance Institution will begin paying out a new benefit, the so-called widow's pension. It is intended to provide financial stability to people who have lost a spouse. Although the act was passed in 2024, the payments are only now becoming a fact.

The widow's pension is a new legal solution introduced by the act adopted by the Sejm in December 2024. The purpose of the benefit is to improve the financial situation of people who lose a significant part of their household budget after the death of their spouse.

SEE: Widow's pension for Poles in Germany. They can receive a surprisingly large amount

From July 2025, widows and widowers will be able to choose one of two options :

• receiving 100% of your pension and 15% of your deceased spouse's pension or disability pension
• retaining 100% of the deceased person's benefit and simultaneously receiving 15% of your current benefit

Importantly, from January 1, 2027, this percentage will increase to 25%. Then, the household budget of a single person will be even more stable.

According to ZUS, the widow's pension is not automatically granted . You must submit an appropriate application to be able to receive these additional financial resources. The conditions for obtaining the benefit include:

• reached retirement age or the right to a disability pension
• the deceased spouse must have received a pension or disability pension (or had an established right to it)
• existence of a marital relationship at the time of death (and no new marriage)
• acquisition of the right to a survivor's pension after the deceased no earlier than the age of 55 in the case of women and 60 in the case of men

The amount of the widow's pension depends on the selected option . For example, if one of the people receives a pension of PLN 3,000 and the deceased spouse received PLN 4,000, there are two possible options:

• maintaining one's own pension of PLN 3,000 and receiving an additional 15 percent of the pension after the deceased spouse, which in this case means an additional PLN 600
• transfer to the deceased spouse's benefit of PLN 4,000 and additionally receiving 15 percent of your own pension, i.e. PLN 450

The first transfers will reach eligible individuals in July 2025. The benefit will be paid on standard dates, i.e. in accordance with the ZUS payment schedule: 1st, 6th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 25th day of the month.

SEE: Widow's pension from KRUS. Farmers must remember this one step

Importantly, if the payment date falls on a non-working day (e.g. weekend or holiday), the payment will be moved to an earlier working day . This will be the case for July 6 and 20. Seniors will therefore receive the benefit payment on July 4 and July 18, respectively.