The National Survivor’s Benefits Act (Algemene nabestaandenwet)

This Act covers benefits for surviving partners and children who lose one or both parents. The following people are eligible for the benefit, a partner who:
- was born before 1950, or;
- has a child under 18 years of age, or;
- is pregnant, or;
- is incapacitated for at least 45 percent.

The National Survivor’s Benefits Act replaced the General Widows and Orphans Act in 1996. The main differences between the two acts is that cohabitating couples are treated identically to married couples.

The amount of the benefit depends on the income of the survivor. Income from labour is partly exempt (50 percent of the gross minimum wage and one third of the remaining income). Income related to labour (e.g. unemployment benefit) is subtracted from the benefit. If the income is higher than 2,263 euro, the survivor is not entitled to any survivor’s benefit at all.

The basic datasets of the National Survivor’s Benefits Act are taken from the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB).