If an employee who is covered by a collective agreement and has been employed for more than one year dies, his or her spouse/registered partner and under-age children for whom the employee has a maintenance duty have a claim for payment of money payable after death.
Money payable after death is calculated based on the employee’s salary at the time of death, as one, two or three months’ salary depending on whether the employee was employed for one, two or three years, respectively.
The legal basis for the payment of money payable after death is section 8 of the Danish Salaried Employees Act (Funktionærloven), section 26 of the collective agreement for state-employed academics (overenskomsten for akademikere i staten), section 23 of the multi-union collective agreement for the Organisations of Public Employees – Denmark (State) (OAO-S) (OAO-S-fællesoverenskomsten) and section 23 of the multi-union collective agreement for the Confederation of Teachers Unions and the Danish Confederation of Public Employees of 2010 (LC/CO10) (LC/CO10-fællesoverenskomsten).
Money payable after death will be disbursed regardless of whether the employee had been dismissed at the time of his or her death, and regardless of whether the employment relationship would have ended before the end of the period in which the money payable after death must be paid.
The cause of death has no bearing on the dependants’ claim for money payable after death.
Money payable after death is a personal right for the deceased’s dependants and will not accrue to the estate.
Cohabitants and divorcées are not entitled to payment of money payable after death. If the deceased was separated from his or her spouse/registered partner, the spouse/partner will be entitled to money payable after death if the deceased had a maintenance obligation towards him or her.
If the deceased does not leave a spouse/partner with a claim for money payable after death, the money will be paid to children under the age of 18 who are the deceased’s dependants.
If the spouse dies before the end of the period in which the money payable after death is disbursed, the money will be paid to any children under the age of 18. Whether children are marital or non-marital children does not affect their claim to the money. The money will be disbursed to the child’s guardian and not to the estate.
If the deceased leaves more children entitled to money payable after death, the money will be divided equally between them.
If an employee employed as a public servant dies, special rules in the Danish Act on Public Servant Pension (Tjenestemandspensionsloven) on money payable after death to a spouse/registered partner and children apply.
Money payable after death is paid to the deceased’s surviving spouse/registered partner or, if the deceased did not have a spouse/registered partner, to the deceased’s children entitled to survivor’s pension.
If a public servant in service dies without leaving a spouse/registered partner or children entitled to survivor’s pension, the money payable after death accrues to the estate.
As a general rule, money payable after death is paid for three months from the first day of the month after the death.
However, in case of death as a direct result of a work-related injury, money payable after death is paid to the spouse/registered partner or children for 12 months, while it is paid for three months if it accrues to the estate.
If a surviving spouse/registered partner is entitled to a spouse’s pension and/or children under the age of 21 are entitled to a survivor’s pension, these pensions will only be disbursed when money payable after death is no longer paid to the persons entitled to the pension.