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The surviving spouse's pension provides a basic income

Are you eligible?
Conditions of payment
Other aid programs available

Are you eligible?

To find out whether you are eligible for the surviving spouse's pension, you must make sure that you legally qualify as the deceased person's "spouse" and that he or she has sufficiently contributed to the Québec Pension Plan.

Were you the married, civil union or de facto spouse of the deceased?

If the deceased was married or in a civil union, the surviving spouse's pension will be paid to the spouse unless there had been a legal separation.
If the death occurs in the year of marriage or civil union, certain rules apply.
If the deceased person was not married or was legally separated, the pension will be paid to the person who qualifies as the de facto spouse.
If, when the person died, nobody had been living in a de facto union with that person for at least 3 years, the surviving spouse's pension will be paid to the legally separated spouse, if the separation took place before 1 July 1989.
If, at the time of separation, there was a renunciation of partition of the earnings recorded under the Québec Pension Plan and no de facto spouse qualifies, the surviving spouse's pension will be paid to the spouse who is legally separated if the separation took place between 1 July 1989 and 31 December 1993, provided no other judgment of separation took effect after 31 December 1993.
You will continue to be entitled to your surviving spouse's pension even if you remarry or enter into a civil union.

Note that...

The de facto spouse may qualify as a surviving spouse if he or she lived with the deceased person for at least 3 years preceding the death.
If a child was born or is to be born of their union or if they adopted a child, only one year of cohabitation is required
For deaths occuring on or after 4 April 1985, same-sex de facto spouses can also apply for survivors' benefits.

Conditions of payment

The amount of your surviving spouse's pension varies according to the following factors:

the contributions that the deceased made to the Plan;
your age;
whether you support dependent children of the deceased person;
whether you are disabled;
whether or not you are already receiving a retirement or a disability pension.

The amounts shown below are valid until 31 December 2012. They represent monthly payments.

**Monthly payments**
Your age	Your situation	Maximum amount of the surviving spouse's pension
under 45	without any dependent children	484,09 $
under 45	with one or more dependent children	783,62 $
under 45	disabled, with or without dependent children	815,47 $
between 45 and 64		815,47 $
65 or over	you do not receive a retirement pension	592,00 $

If you receive your retirement pension

As of age 65, if you receive a retirement pension payable under the Québec Pension Plan, it is possible that your surviving spouse's pension may be reduced to zero.

If you receive 2 pensions

You can receive a surviving spouse's pension and a retirement pension or a surviving spouse's pension and a disability pension. In such a case, the Régie des rentes du Québec pays both pensions in a single amount. The two pensions are then said to be "combined". The amount of a combined pension is not necessarily equal to the sum of both pensions, as it is subject to a maximum set by the law.

When will your surviving spouse's pension start being paid?

The surviving spouse's pension will be paid to you beginning in the month after your spouse's death if you apply to the Régie within 12 months of the death.