Death of a close family member

Orphan’s pension is part of survivors’ pension and it is paid by employment pension institutions and Kela. If the child’s parent had not accumulated any earnings-related pension, the orphan’s pension will only be paid by Kela.

Orphan’s pensions to persons aged under 20are paid by employment pension institutions. The pension is based on the earnings-related pension.

Kela pays orphan’s pensions to persons aged under 18 if their mother, father or other guardian dies. If the young person is studying, Kela will pay them the basic amount until the person reaches the age of 21. This pension paid to students aged over 18 is called a student’s pension and you must submit a separate application for it.

The child born after the death of their biological parent is also eligible for orphan’s pension. If the child’s parents were not married, the paternity must first be determined.

If the parent of the child had lived or worked in countries outside Finland, the child may also be eligible for survivors’ pension from these countries.

The amount of the following allowances and benefits may be adjusted if one of the child’s parents dies:

• child benefit
• student financial aid
• general housing allowance
• labour market subsidy
• · social assistance.

If one of the parents becomes the single parent of underage children, the parent in question may be eligible for single parent supplement for the child benefit paid by Kela.

Check with Kela which benefits you may be eligible for or what will happen to the benefits that you are already receiving.Opens in a new window.

If the deceased parent of the child was in working age at the time of their death and was at work or on sick leave, a child aged under 22 may be eligible for a lump sum compensation under the group life insurance policy for employees.

Employers use different names for group life insurance policies:

• If the deceased parent of the child was employed by central government, you can apply for the benefit equivalent to a group life insurance compensation from the State Treasury (the document is in Finnish).Opens in a new window.
• If the deceased parent of the child was employed by local government, you can apply for financial support from Keva.Opens in a new window.

If the deceased parent was employed outside central or local government, send the claim for group life insurance compensation to the Employees’ Group Life Assurance PoolOpens in a new window..

If the parent of the child died in an occupational accident or of an occupational disease, a person aged under 18 or a student aged between 18 and 24 may be eligible for an orphan’s pension from the occupational accident and disease insurance policy taken out by the employer. Read more about the compensations on the website of the Finnish Workers’ Compensation Center.Opens in a new window.

Depending on the cause of the parent’s death, you can apply for survivors’ pension, care pension or other benefits for the child from the following insurance policies:

• accident insurance
• traffic insurance
• military accident insurance
• military disability insurance
• patient injuries insurance.

The deceased parent may also have had other insurance policies that may makethe child eligible for compensation, such as life insurance or travel insurance.

If the child is eligible for a pension based on the above insurance policies, they may not be eligible for the survivors’ pension supplement paid by Kela or an orphan’s pension paid by an employment pension institution. The insurance compensation payments may also be considered when the earnings-related pension is calculated.

Submit the applications for pension and compensations to the insurance companies in which the insurance policy was taken out.