Surviving children receive an orphan's pension from the Agricultural Pension Fund if the deceased parent or parents have completed the minimum insurance period (waiting period) of 5 years.

• The waiting period of 5 years takes into account all compulsory contributions as well as voluntary contributions paid or deemed to have been paid to the Agricultural Old Age Fund. Contributions for periods before 01.01.1995 are generally only taken into account if there are no gaps.
• The waiting period of 5 years is fulfilled early if the insured person died as a result of an accident at work or an occupational disease (insured event) and was subject to compulsory insurance at that time.
• If a pension equalization was carried out in favor of the deceased, the transferred entitlement is converted into waiting period months.

Periods from other pension schemes:

• Periods from other pension schemes, for example, periods in the statutory pension insurance scheme, can also be counted towards the waiting period if the deceased paid contributions to the Landwirtschaftliche Alterskasse (LAK) for at least one month.
• If the foreign periods overlap with those of the agricultural pension fund, the foreign periods cannot be credited at the same time.
  • This also applies if the deceased was exempt from compulsory insurance to the LAK as an entrepreneur during the same period.
  • An exemption from compulsory insurance as an assisting family member, on the other hand, does not prevent third-party periods completed during this time from being credited.

The following periods can be credited:

• Compulsory contribution periods in the statutory German pension insurance and equivalent periods in the social insurance of the former GDR,
• Periods of exemption from insurance in the statutory pension insurance, for example as a
  • civil servant
  • judge
  • professional or temporary soldier
  • other person covered by civil service pension insurance,
• periods of exemption from compulsory insurance in the statutory pension insurance, for example
  • employees and self-employed persons who belong to a professional pension scheme
  • teachers and educators at private schools, if they are covered in the same way as civil servants
  • certain foreign periods under supranational and intergovernmental law.

You are entitled to an orphan's pension if you:

• are a natural or adopted child of the deceased,
• are a stepchild or foster child who was included in the household of the deceased, and
• are a grandchild or sibling who was included in the household of the deceased or was mainly maintained by him/her,

if you:

• are not yet 18 years of age, or
• are not yet 27 years old and
• Are in school or vocational training of more than 20 hours per week,
• are doing voluntary service, or
• are unable to care for themselves because of a physical, mental or emotional disability.

An orphan's pension may also be paid for transitional periods of no more than 4 calendar months, for example between 2 apprenticeships.

An extended orphan's pension entitlement may arise beyond the age of 27, for example due to prior completion of voluntary military service during the probationary period.