If you die, what do your spouse and children get?

AHV pays the spouse 80% and each child 40% of the old-age pension that matches the career average income of the person who died, from the month after the death (AHVG Art. 23, 24, 25, 36, 37).

The expat detail is missing years. Full amounts need AHV contributions every year since the January after the 20th birthday; each missing year cuts the pension in proportion (leaflet 3.03, questions 11 and 12). Arrive at 30 and die at 40, and about 10 of a possible 19 years count: roughly half the pension.

The widower rule is under reform, not yet changed. The Federal Council proposes paying widows and widowers alike until the youngest child turns 25 (Federal Social Insurance Office). The National Council voted on 24 September 2025; in October 2026 the bill is with the Council of States committee (Curia Vista 24.078), and the AHVG text for 1 January 2027 leaves Articles 23 to 25 unchanged.

The legal minimum is a share of the full disability pension the fund would have paid you: 60% for your spouse, 20% for each child (BVG Art. 21). That disability pension is your retirement savings plus every age credit still to come until 65, without interest, times 6.8% (Art. 24, 14, 16).

Many funds pay more, and some add a lump sum on death. Your pension certificate (Vorsorgeausweis) states the spouse's and orphan's pensions in francs: that line is what your family would receive.

When an accident causes the death, UVG pays the spouse 40% and each child 15% of the insured salary (25% for a child who has lost both parents), together at most 70% (UVG Art. 31; SUVA). The insured salary is the pay of the year before the accident, up to CHF 148,200 (UVG Art. 15, UVV Art. 22), unchanged in the ordinance for 2027.

With AHV paying too, UVG tops up only to 90% of the insured salary (Art. 31 para. 4), and the pension fund may cut its own pensions to stay within 90% of the lost salary (BVG Art. 34a, BVV 2 Art. 24). UVG still treats widowers differently: without children entitled to a pension, a widower receives one only if at least two-thirds disabled, a widow if she has grown children or is 45 or over (UVG Art. 29).

Both families are married with two children under 18. The earner, aged 40, dies of an illness in 2026; the partner has no income. The assumptions, stated so you can change them:

• A full AHV record with no missing years, and a career average income of at least CHF 90,720, which gives the maximum pension.
• A pension fund at the BVG legal minimum, insured since 25 on today's maximum coordinated salary of CHF 64,260, interest left out.
• Gross amounts before tax. The salary the employer still owes after a death, child allowances and any lump sum are left out.

Both salaries sit above every legal cap, so both families receive the same CHF 5,852.70: above CHF 90,720, more salary only widens the gap.

A partner at home is still insured in AHV and owes contributions from the January after turning 20. If you are married and employed, theirs count as paid while you pay at least twice the minimum: CHF 1,060 a year in 2026, CHF 1,082 from 2027 (AHVG Art. 3 para. 3; leaflet 2.03; 2027 amounts). An unmarried partner pays as a non-employed person at the cantonal compensation office, at least CHF 530 a year (CHF 541 from 2027). So does a spouse whose partner's salary is not subject to Swiss AHV, a job abroad for example.

Pillar 3a is open only to employees and the self-employed (BVV 3 Art. 7): without earned income, no 3a. Protection runs through you:

The cover that closes the gap is term life insurance on the earner, sized to the monthly gap and the years until the children are independent; for an unmarried couple it carries more weight. A smaller policy on the partner at home is worth pricing too: if they die, the care they gave has to be paid for. Illness and disability are on the income protection page.