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 that have been paid to the agricultural pension fund or are deemed to have been paid. Contributions for periods prior to 01.01.1995 are generally only taken into account if there are no gaps.
• The waiting period of 5 years is fulfilled prematurely if the insured person died as a result of an accident at work or an occupational illness (insured event) and was subject to compulsory insurance at that time.
• If a pension equalization was carried out in favour 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 qualifying period if the deceased paid contributions to the Landwirtschaftliche Alterskasse (LAK) for at least one month.
• If the external periods overlap with those of the agricultural pension fund, the external periods cannot be credited at the same time.
  • This also applies if the deceased was exempt from compulsory LAK insurance as an entrepreneur during the same period.
  • An exemption from compulsory insurance as a contributing family member, on the other hand, does not preclude the crediting of third-party periods completed during this time.

The following periods can be taken into account:

• 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 scheme, for example as
  • civil servant
  • Judge
  • professional or regular soldier
  • other person with similar civil servant status,
• periods of exemption from compulsory insurance in the statutory pension insurance scheme, for example
  • Employees and self-employed persons who belong to a professional pension scheme
  • Teachers and educators at private schools, if there is protection similar to that of civil servants
  • certain foreign periods under supranational and intergovernmental law.

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

• are the natural or adopted child of the deceased,
• are a stepchild or foster child who was taken into the household of the deceased and
• are a grandchild or sibling who was a member of the deceased's household or was mainly supported by the deceased,

if you:

• are not yet 18 years old or
• are not yet 27 years old and
• are in school or vocational training for more than 20 hours per week,
• are doing voluntary service or
• are unable to care for yourself due to physical, mental or psychological disability.

An orphan's pension can also be paid for transitional periods of a maximum of 4 calendar months, for example between 2 training courses.

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