What happens about my pension provision when I die?

When you die, your survivors will receive spouse's, life partner's and orphan's pensions. If you are an active insured member at the time you die, your survivors will also receive a lump sum payable on death. However, various conditions must be met for the pensions or the lump sum to be paid out.

Will my spouse get a pension when I die?

The rule is that your spouse will receive a lifelong spouse's pension on your death. For this to happen, one of the following conditions has to be met:

If your spouse does not meet any of these conditions, they will receive only a one-time settlement worth three annual pensions upon your death.

How much is the pension for my spouse?

If you are still working for a living at the time of your death, your spouse's lifelong pension will be equal to 35% of your insured salary. This pension will be 60% of the current old-age or disability pension for old-age and disability pensioners. If, however, you die before reaching the age of 65, this pension may be reduced if the sum of all survivors’ pensions, together with other eligible income (e.g. AHV and UVG pensions), exceeds 90% of your last annual salary. In addition, the pension will be reduced if your spouse is more than 15 years younger than you. Any current bridging pensions cease to be payable when you die. The entitlement to a spouse’s pension lapses if you remarry.

Example: You work for a company in the Swisscom Group and your salary is CHF 60,000 per year. In the event of your death, your spouse or registered partner will receive a lifelong survivor’s pension of CHF 21,000 (CHF 60,000 × 35%) per year or CHF 1,750 per month. If you receive a retirement pension of CHF 32,040 per year or CHF 2,670 per month, the monthly pension for your spouse or registered partner would be CHF 1,602 (CHF 2,670 × 60%).

You can find out how much your survivors’ benefits are from your statement of insurance on comPlan Online.

Will my registered partner get a pension
when I die?

The law treats registered partners as equal to spouses. Registered partners receive the same benefits as spouses from comPlan, subject to the same conditions.

Will my partner get a pension when I die?

You can arrange for your civil partner to receive a survivor’s pension. Important: For this to happen, you must, before either your retirement or your death, have provided us with the mutual support contract for your partner. The civil partnership must have been established before your retirement. Moreover, you must both be unmarried at the time of your death and your partner may not receive any spouse’s or partner’s pension from another pension fund.

One of the following conditions must also be met:

We will not check your partner's entitlement to survivor's benefits until after you have died.

How much is the pension for my partner?

If you are still working for a living at the time of your death, your partner's lifelong pension will be equal to 35% of your insured salary. This pension will be 60% of the current old-age or disability pension for old-age and disability pensioners. This pension may, however, be reduced if the sum of all survivors’ pensions, together with other eligible income (e.g. AHV and UVG pensions), exceeds 90% of your last annual salary before your death. In addition, the pension will be reduced if your life partner is more than 15 years younger than you. Any current bridging pensions cease to be payable when you die.

Example: You work for a company in the Swisscom Group and your salary is CHF 60,000 per year. In the event of your death, your partner will receive a lifelong survivor’s pension of CHF 21,000 (CHF 60,000 × 35%) per year or CHF 1,750 per month. If you receive a retirement pension of CHF 32,040 per year or CHF 2,670 per month, the monthly pension for your civil partner would be CHF 1,602 (CHF 2,670 × 60%)

You can find out how much your survivors’ benefits can be expected to be from your statement of insurance on comPlan Online.

Will my children get pensions when I die?

The rule is that your children will receive orphan’s pensions at the time of your death. For this to happen, though, one of the following conditions has to be met:

The orphan’s pension amounts to 10% of your insured salary or 20% of your old-age or disability pension. For orphans who have lost both parents, these amounts are doubled.

Example: You work for a company in the Swisscom Group and your salary at the time of your death is CHF 60,000 per year. On your death, then, every child entitled to a pension would receive an orphan’s pension of CHF 6,000 per year or CHF 500 per month. The orphan's pension would be CHF 1,000 per month if they were left without both parents. If you receive a retirement pension of CHF 32,040 per year or CHF 2,670 per month, the monthly pension for half orphans would be CHF 534 (CHF 2,670 × 20%) and that for full orphans CHF 1,068 (2 × CHF 534).

You can find out how much your survivors’ benefits can be expected to be from your statement of insurance on comPlan Online.

Who receives a lump sum benefit on my death if I am married, and how much is it?

A lump sum is payable upon death only if you are an active insured with comPlan. If you’ve already retired, your spouse will not receive a lump sum death benefit on your death.

If you’re an active insured with comPlan and married, your spouse will receive the lump sum payable on your death, but (in the same way as in the case of the spouse's pension) one of the following conditions must also be met:

If your spouse does not meet these conditions, they will receive only a one-time settlement worth three annual pensions. If you support your partner to a significant degree, you can enable them to benefit from an additional lump sum on your death by submitting the “Beneficiary Declaration for Substantially Supported Persons”. This must be done while you are still alive. The lump sum payable on death to the spouse is then made up of 100% of the last insured salary plus the additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra, buy-ins and buy-outs for early retirement with comPlan minus divorce and advance withdrawals with comPlan.

Example: Your insured salary is CHF 60,000, your additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra are CHF 20,000 and your purchases since joining comPlan total CHF 30,000. The lump sum your spouse will receive from us after your death is made up as follows:

If he or she meets the conditions for a spouse's pension: Lump sum on death CHF 110,000 (CHF 60,000 + CHF 20,000 + CHF 30,000). If he or she does not meet the conditions for a spouse's pension and has not been substantially supported by you: Settlement made up of three year's salaries CHF 63,000 (CHF 60,000 x 35% x 3).

If he or she does not meet the conditions for a spouse's pension, has been substantially supported by you, and the Beneficiary Declaration has been submitted: Settlement made up of three year's salaries CHF 63,000 (CHF 60,000 x 35% x 3) + Lump sum death benefit CHF 110,000 (CHF 60,000 + CHF 20,000 + CHF 30,000).

You can find out how much your survivors’ benefits can be expected to be from your statement of insurance on comPlan Online.

Who gets a lump sum payment on my death if I’m living with a registered partner?

The law treats registered partners as equal to spouses. Registered partners receive the same benefits as spouses from comPlan, subject to the same conditions.

Who gets my lump-sum death benefit if I’m not married?

A lump sum is payable upon death only if you are an active insured with comPlan. No lump sum is payable if you die while already a pensioner.

If you are an active insured with comPlan and single, widowed or divorced, the lump sum payable on your death may go to a number of persons. First among these are your partner or any persons whom you support to a substantial extent. Important: For your partner to receive the lump sum payable on your death, you must, before either your retirement or your death, have provided us with the support agreement for partner. The partnership must have been entered into prior to your retirement. Moreover, you must both be unmarried at the time of your death and your partner may not receive any spouse’s or partner’s pension from another pension fund.  

One of the following conditions (in the same way as in the case of the pension for partners) must also be met:

You can nominate alternative additional persons whom you support to a substantial extent to receive the lump sum payable on your death. To do this you must complete our “Beneficiary Declaration for Substantially Supported Persons” before your death. Evidence must be produced at the time of your death of the substantial support they received from you.

If you do not have a life partner nominated as a beneficiary and no beneficiaries whom you support to a substantial extent, then the pension fund regulations specify that your death benefit will be divided equally among all your children, or in their absence equally between your parents, or in their absence equally among your siblings. If you wish your children, parents or siblings to benefit from the lump sum payable on death other than in the order provided for or other than equally, then you can arrange for this using our “Change of Beneficiary Order in the Event of Death” form.

We will not check their entitlement to the lump sum payable on death until after you have died.

How much is the lump sum payable on my death if I’m not married?

The lump sum payable on your death for life partners and substantially supported persons comprises 100% of the last insured salary plus the additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra, buy-ins and buy-outs for early retirement with comPlan minus divorce and advance withdrawals with comPlan, and may be shared between several persons whom you have supported to a significant extent.

If you have children who are entitled to orphans’ pensions, the lump sum payable on death comprises 100% of the last insured salary plus the additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra, buy-ins and buy-outs for early retirement with comPlan minus divorce and advance withdrawals with comPlan. If you don’t have children who are entitled to pensions, your remaining children, your parents or your siblings will receive collectively only the additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra, buy-ins and buy-outs for early retirement with comPlan minus divorce and advance withdrawals with comPlan.

Example: Example: Your insured salary is CHF 60,000, your additional savings contributions for savings options Plus and Extra are CHF 20,000 and your purchases since joining comPlan total CHF 30,000. Your partner, persons whom you have supported to a large extent, and children, provided that one of them is entitled to an orphan’s pension, will receive a total death benefit of CHF 110,000 (CHF 60,000 + CHF 20,000 + CHF 30,000) upon your death. Your children, if none of them are entitled to orphans’ pensions, your parents and siblings will receive together a lump sum of CHF 50,000 (CHF 20,000 + CHF 30,000) on your death.

You can find out how much your survivors’ benefits can be expected to be from your statement of insurance on comPlan Online.

Who is required to report the death of an insured?

The relatives must report the death of an insured directly to comPlan. We will then be able to prepare any survivors’ benefits and pay them out in good time. If the death of a pensioner is reported late, overpaid pensions must be repaid.