What pension is left for the widow, the children or the parents when someone insured with the ONP or an AFP dies?

First: were they in the ONP or an AFP?

Everything depends on which pension system the person who died paid into. If they were in the National Pension System, run by the ONP (Oficina de Normalización Previsional), the family pensions are in Decreto Ley 19990: widow’s (viudez), orphan’s (orfandad) and parents’ (ascendientes). If they were in an AFP (the private pension system, SPP), the family asks the AFP for a survivors’ pension (pensión de sobrevivencia) and whoever paid for the funeral asks for the funeral-expense refund (gastos de sepelio). If you don’t know which system they were in, see AFP vs. ONP.

Keep the death record (acta de defunción) at hand: the SBS, for example, requires it for the funeral refund. If you don’t have it yet, see how to register a death and get the record.

ONP: the widow’s pension

Article 51 of Decreto Ley 19990 grants survivors’ pensions when, among others, an insured person entitled to a retirement pension dies, a retirement or disability pensioner dies, or an insured person dies in a non-work accident while contributing.

Article 53, in the text published by the ONP (amended by Ley 30907 in 2019), gives a pension to:

• the wife or surviving member of the de facto union of the insured man or male pensioner who died, and
• the husband or member of the de facto union who is disabled or over sixty of the insured woman or female pensioner who died.

The marriage or union must also have begun at least one year before the death and before the deceased turned 60 (man) or 50 (woman), or more than two years before the death if it began at an older age. Those dates don’t matter if the death was accidental, if the couple has or had children together, or if the wife or partner was pregnant at the date of death. Depending on the case, the ONP’s procedure page asks for the police report or autopsy certificate, the children’s birth record if it isn’t in RENIEC, or a medical certificate of pregnancy.

For a de facto union, the ONP’s procedure page asks for two years of living together, proven by the court ruling declaring the union registered with Sunarp; if it was never registered, it can be recognized in court. How that works is in de facto unions.

Widowers and the age-sixty rule. The ONP’s procedure page still says a widower must have a disability that prevents him from working or be over 60. In 2023 the Constitutional Court declared that requirement inapplicable in a specific case (Exp. 00164-2019-PA/TC), because it treats widowers and widows differently, and ordered the ONP to grant the pension. That ruling decided one case; it did not change the text of the law. The text published by the ONP does note that financial dependence is no longer required for a widow’s pension, because the Constitutional Court declared an unconstitutional state of affairs regarding the phrase «que haya estado a cargo de ésta» (STC 0617-2017-PA/TC). If the ONP refuses you the pension because of your age, talk to a lawyer.

Amount. Article 54 sets a ceiling: 50 % of the retirement or disability pension the deceased received or would have received. We don’t calculate amounts here; the ONP’s decision will state yours.

ONP: orphan’s and parents’ pensions

Orphan’s pension (article 56). Children under 18 qualify. The right continues for children who study without interruption at basic or higher level, and for children with a disability that prevents them from working. The ONP’s procedure page adds that, for studies, this must be proven on turning 18 and renewed every term. To collect a minor’s pension, the father, mother or guardian needs a court order, and payment is only through Banco de la Nación.

Parents’ pension (articles 58 and 59). The father or mother of the deceased can receive a pension if, at the date of death: the father was 60 or older or the mother 55 or older, or they were disabled; they depended financially on the deceased; they had no income above the pension they would receive; and there was no widow’s or orphan’s pension, or money was left after paying them. The ceiling is 20 % of the deceased’s pension for each parent.

ONP: how to apply and how long it takes

All three ONP procedure pages describe the same route: a video call with an adviser, who takes the application on the spot, or the in-person channels if you can’t use the video call or are acting under a power of attorney. On the widow’s and orphan’s pages, the core document is the application on the ONP form, which includes a sworn statement that the documents are authentic. If the deceased was not yet a pensioner, the page asks for copies of documents proving their employment (work certificates, payslips, settlements) or a simple statement of the employment relationship, and for contribution receipts from the former IPSS or EsSalud only if that information is not already in the ONP’s systems.

The ONP must answer within a maximum of 30 business days with a decision sent by email or to your home. If it takes longer, the procedure page says you will receive a provisional pension until the decision is issued.

Don’t put it off. Article 60 says the pension arises on the date of death, but article 81 only allows back payments for up to twelve months before your application. Anything older than that year is not recovered.

If nobody qualifies for a pension

When the deceased had, or would have had, a right to an ONP retirement or disability pension but leaves nobody entitled to a survivors’ pension, article 67 provides a death capital (capital de defunción), in this exclusive order: spouse, children, parents, and siblings under 18.

AFP: the survivors’ pension

According to the SBS, the beneficiaries are: the spouse or partner (concubino); the unborn child; children under 18; children over 18 declared totally and permanently disabled; children over 18 who study without interruption and satisfactorily, up to age 28; parents declared disabled; and a father aged 60 or mother aged 55 who depended financially on the member.

If the member was not yet a pensioner, those percentages apply to their average pay over the last 48 months; if they were already a pensioner, the type and amount of the pension they received are what count. The total for all beneficiaries has a cap. The pension is paid from the account balance and, if the member had pension insurance coverage (seguro previsional), with an additional contribution when the balance falls short.

The procedure, according to the SBS: the beneficiaries file and sign the application at the AFP with the documents proving their status (for example, a notarized copy of the marriage record, or the court ruling or registered public deed of the de facto union); the AFP checks the insurance coverage; quotes are requested; the beneficiaries choose the pension type; and the AFP or the insurer pays. The ONP and AFP document lists are not the same: an AFP is a private company and follows the private pension system’s rules.

AFP: funeral expenses

The AFP pays or refunds an amount matching a reference funeral, up to a cap set by the SBS and updated every six months in line with the consumer price index (IPC). Active members and retirement or disability pensioners are covered. The claim is made by whoever paid for the funeral, with the original invoices or receipts in their name, their ID, the medical death certificate (or autopsy certificate, or the court ruling of presumed death), the death record and, if the death was accidental, the police report.

A document they can no longer ask for

If you already receive a state pension, nobody can demand a proof-of-life certificate (certificado de supervivencia) to pay it: article 9 of Decreto Legislativo 1246 abolished it. That and other banned requirements are in documents Peruvian offices can no longer demand.