What happens about my pension provision when I die?

When you die, your surviving spouse or partner and any orphaned children will receive a pension. If you pass away while still an active insured member, your survivors will also receive a lump sum payable on death. However, certain conditions must be met for the pensions or the lump sum to be paid out.

Will my spouse get a pension when I die?

If you die, your spouse is generally entitled to a lifelong spouse's pension. For this, one of the following conditions must be met:

How much is the pension for my spouse?

If you die as an active insured member (up to the age of 65), your spouse's lifelong pension will be equal to 35% of your insured salary.
This pension will be 60% of the current retirement or disability pension for retirement and disability pensioners. If you die before reaching age 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 upon death. The entitlement to a spouse’s pension ceases upon remarriage.

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 partner to receive a survivor’s pension. Important: For this to happen, you must have submitted the mutual beneficiary declaration (support contract) for your partner before your retirement or death. The 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 die as an active insured person (up to the age of 65), your partner's lifelong pension will be equal to 35% of your insured salary. This pension will be 60% of the current retirement or disability pension for retirement 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. The entitlement to a partner's pension ceases upon remarriage.

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.

Can my spouse or partner also receive their pension in the form of a lump sum?

If you are entitled to a spouse’s or partner’s pension, you may request to receive it either in full or in part as a lump sum. The request to receive the pension in the form of a lump sum must be submitted in writing no later than three months after the insured person’s death.

The lump sum corresponds to the present value of the spouse’s or partner’s pension but may not exceed the available retirement assets.

Example: Existing retirement assets at the time of death: CHF 850,000. Present value of the partner's pension: CHF 800,000. The entire partner's pension can be paid out as a lump sum, with CHF 800,000 being paid out.

Existing retirement assets at the time of death: CHF 600,000. Present value of the spouse's pension: CHF 980,000. A maximum of CHF 600,000 can be withdrawn in the form of a lump sum, and a monthly pension is paid from the remaining amount.

Will my children get pensions when I die?

The general rule is that your children are entitled to an orphan’s pension in the event of your death. However, one of the following conditions must be met:

The orphan’s pension amounts to 10% of your insured salary or 20% of your retirement 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.

Can the orphan's pension also be received in the form of a lump sum?

No, orphan's pensions must always be paid in the form of a pension.

Who receives a lump sum payable on death and how much is it?

A lump sum death benefit is payable only if you are insured with comPlan and have not yet reached the age of 65, meaning you are still working or receiving a disability pension and have not yet reached the reference age. If you are already receiving a retirement pension, your survivors will not be entitled to a lump sum death benefit upon your death.

A lump sum death benefit is paid out in the following order:

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

How much is the death benefit?

The death benefit, which is paid to the spouse, partner or children, comprises

• your total retirement assets at the time of your death,
  minus the present value of all survivor benefits triggered by your death (i.e. spouse's pension, partner's pension and orphan's pensions),
  but at least 100% of your last insured salary;

• your purchases, retirement credits above the ‘Standard’ savings option and purchases for early retirement;

• minus any WEF advance payments made during the insurance period with comPlan that have not yet been repaid, as well as any divorce-related payments.
  

Example: Your retirement assets at the time of death amount to CHF 600,000. The present value of your spouse's pension is CHF 400,000. This amount is deducted from your retirement assets. The lump sum death benefit therefore amounts to CHF 200,000.

Retirement assets at the time of death: CHF 800,000 (including purchases of CHF 50,000). Less present value for spouse's pension CHF 650,000, less present values for children's pensions CHF 200,000. The entire retirement assets are used up for the pensions. Therefore, the death benefit for the wife amounts to 100% of the last insured salary.

If you live in a registered partnership, your registered partner is treated as equivalent to a spouse.

Who will receive my death benefit if I am not married?

If you are not married but live with a partner, you may designate this person as equivalent to a spouse by means of a ‘beneficiary declaration’. The form must be submitted to comPlan before retirement and before your death.

Once the form has been submitted, your partner will be entitled to both a partner's pension and a lump sum death benefit in the same amount as a spouse (see examples above), provided that the relevant requirements are met.

The prerequisite for the lump sum death benefit is that the cohabitation with a shared household (not necessarily with the same official place of residence) must have existed continuously for at least the last five years prior to death.

What if I have neither a spouse nor a beneficiary partner?

In this case, the children receive the lump sum death benefit. Their age is irrelevant. The lump sum death benefit must be divided equally among the children.

Example: The parents are divorced, there is no beneficiary partner, and the three children are still young and therefore each receive an orphan's pension. Existing retirement assets at the time of death: CHF 600,000. Minus the present value of all children's pensions CHF 360,000. This leaves a death benefit of CHF 240,000. This is divided equally among the three children, with each child receiving CHF 80,000.

Only child, 36 years old, no longer entitled to an orphan's pension. The father (divorced, no beneficiary partner) dies shortly before retirement. The retirement assets amount to CHF 1,100,000. No pension benefits are triggered. The child receives a death benefit of CHF 1,100,000.

Who receives the death benefit if I am single and have no children?

If there is no spouse, beneficiary partner or children, the death benefit goes to the parents or, if they are not alive, to the siblings of the deceased. This order cannot be changed.

If there are several persons in one beneficiary category (e.g. both parents), the death benefit must be paid out in equal shares to the beneficiaries.

The death benefit for the parents or siblings is composed as follows:

• Buy-ins to full benefits

• Retirement credits in exess of ‘Standard’

• Less early withdrawals for WEF and payments of pension compensation in the context of a divorce made during the insurance period at comPlan and not yet repaid.
  

Example: The deceased person chose the ‘Extra’ savings option for many years and thus saved an additional CHF 25,000. They also made a purchase of CHF 10,000. The sum of CHF 35,000 will be paid out in equal parts to the deceased person's mother and father.

We will only check your entitlement to survivor's pensions and lump sum death benefits upon your death.

Who is required to report the death of an insured person?

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