Benefits
Children’s pension
Financial support if you are under 20 years old and have lost one or both of your parents.
Contents
New tax rules for children’s pension
From January 1, 2025, we will deduct 17 percent tax from all children’s pension payments.
You can read more about children’s pension and tax here.
You can get children’s pension if you are under the age of 20 and have lost one or both parents.
The deceased parent must have been a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme for the last 5 years before their death. In addition, you must be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
You can receive children’s pension regardless of whether your parents were married, divorced or living together as cohabiting partners.
If your mother has died and your paternity has not been established, you will be treated in the same way as people who have lost both parents.
If your father dies before the birth, you may be entitled to children’s pension from the month after the birth. It is important that you apply within three years of the child's birth. Paternity must be registered in the national register before the application can be processed.
Are you between 18 and 20 years old on 1 January 2024?
If you lost one or both partens before 1 January 2024, you may be entitled to children's pension according to new rules. You can get children’s pension from January 1 2024 until the end of the month you turn 20.
If you have not received children’s pension before, you must apply for it.
Contact us for help and information about your rights.
To receive backdated children’s pension payments for a period before January 1 2024, you must meet the requirements for children’s pension under the old rules.
You may be entitled to children’s pension under the old rules if you were
- under the age of 18 and had lost one or both of your parents
- under the age of 20, had no parents, and were in education or doing an apprenticeship or internship
- under the age of 21, had lost one or both of your parents, and were in education or doing an apprenticeship or internship, and the death of one of your parents was due to an occupational injury or occupational illness
Moving to Norway
You can only receive children’s pension if your deceased parent had been a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme for the last 5 years before their death. You must also meet the requirements to qualify for the benefit.
In this chapter
The rates apply from 1 May 2024.
If you have lost one of your parents, you will receive the national insurance basic amount which currently amounts to NOK 124,028 a year.
If you have lost both of your parents, you will receive 2.25 times the national insurance basic amount, NOK 279,063.
If you have siblings, they will also receive the same amount. The children's pension will not be divided between you.
The benefit may be lower if the deceased has lived abroad.
If you receive disability benefit before you turn 20, the amount you receive in disability benefit will be deducted from your children’s pension. This means you will receive less children’s pension.
If you receive work assessment allowance (AAP) before you turn 20, the amount you receive in children’s pension will be deducted from your AAP payment. This means you will receive less in AAP. Read more about how we calculate your AAP.
In cases where you will not receive children’s pension payments, or the children’s pension may result in lower payments of other benefits, we still recommend applying for child pension.
If your parent died as a result of an approved occupational injury or occupational illness, your children’s pension will be calculated according to special rules.
The size of your children’s pension will depend on how many siblings you have. If you have no parents, the deceased’s earned pension will also determine how much you receive.
If you have lost one of your parents
If you do not have any siblings, you will receive 40 per cent of the national insurance basic amount (“G”), which currently amounts to NOK 49,611 a year or 4,134 a month.
If you have siblings, the total amount of children’s pension you are each entitled to will be combined and then divided equally among you. You will receive a monthly payment.
This is how the total amount is calculated, which is then divided equally among the siblings:
- For the eldest child, Nav calculates 40 per cent of the national insurance basic amount (“G”), which currently corresponds to NOK 49,611 a year.
- For the remaining siblings, Nav calculates 25 per cent of the national insurance basic amount (“G”) for each child, i.e. NOK 31,007 a year.
If you have lost both your parents or have no parents
If you do not have any siblings, you will receive a pension corresponding to the survivor’s pension you are entitled to after the parent who had the highest earned pension.
If you have siblings, the total amount of pension you are each entitled to will be combined and then divided equally among you. Nav calculates the total amount as follows:
- For the eldest child, Nav calculates an amount corresponding to the survivor’s pension you are entitled to after the parent who had the highest earned pension.
- For the second eldest child, Nav calculates 40 per cent of the national insurance basic amount (“G”), which currently corresponds to NOK 49,611 a year.
- For the remaining siblings, Nav calculates 25 per cent of the national insurance basic amount (“G”) for each child, i.e. NOK 31,007 a year.
These amounts are added together and then divided equally among the siblings. You will receive a monthly payment.
If your deceased parent’s period of national insurance cover (i.e. their period of residence in Norway) was shorter than 40 years, you will receive a smaller children’s pension.
If your deceased parent has accumulated pension rights in a country with which Norway has a social security agreement, you may be entitled to a pension from that country.
If your parent died as a result of an approved occupational injury or occupational illness, your children’s pension will be calculated according to special rules.
You can receive children’s pension up to and including the month you turn 20 years of age.
If you were granted children’s pension before 1 January 2024 and the death was due to occupational injury or occupational illness, you may be entitled to benefit until you turn 21 years of age.
If the deceased had an occupational pension plan, you may be eligible for payments from some of these schemes. If your parent was in work until their death, you should contact their employer for more information.
Other public schemes that may be relevant:
If you are in education, you can apply for grants and loans from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (“Lånekassen”).
Other options
More information in Norwegian for you who
If you are 18 years old or older, you must apply for children’s pension yourself.
If you are under 18 years old, your parent or legal guardian must apply for children’s pension on your behalf.
As a legal guardian, you can only submit an application for the children you are a guardian for. You can also apply for children over 18 years old. After you have applied for children’s pension, you must forward us a copy of the guardianship certificate for the children you have applied for.
National Identification Number
We need the name and national identification number of all persons in the application. If you do not have the national identification number for one or more persons in the application, you must provide the date of birth. If we only receive the date of birth, it will take longer to process the application.
Did the deceased live or work abroad?
If the deceased has lived or worked abroad, we ask when and where, and whether the deceased has received pension payments from that country. We also ask whether the deceased was a member of the National Insurance Scheme during the stay abroad.
You can contact Nav for more information and guidance, and/or help filling out the application form.
When should you apply?
You can apply for children’s pension even if the death happened a long time ago. We can make back payments for up to 3 years from the month we receive the application.
You will receive a written decision once your application has been processed. Normal processing time is maximum one month; you will be notified if it is going to take longer to process your application.
Processing time for applications
The processing time is the time from when we receive your application until we have made a decision. Remember that we need all the necessary documentation to process your application.
| Case concerns | Expected case processing time |
|---|---|
| Application | 4 weeks |
| International application - living in Norway | 2 months |
| International application - living abroad | 6 months |
Have you received a decision from us that you think is wrong? You can complain to the Nav Unit that issued the decision. They will reassess your case. If they do not agree with your complaint, they will forward it to the Nav Appeals Management Unit.
Complain about a decision
The decision will have information about how to proceed if you want to complain, where to send your complaint and the term of complaint. If you have questions about the decision, you can contact us.
Appeal a decision
If you disagree with the decision of your complaint from the the Nav Appeals Management Unit, you can, with some exceptions, appeal the decision. The deadline for appealing is stated in the decision.
Processing time for complaints and appeals
Have you received a decision from us that you think is wrong? You can complain to the Nav Unit that issued the decision. They will reassess your case. If they do not agree with your complaint, they will forward it to the Nav Appeals Management Unit.
Case concerns | Expected case processing time |
|---|---|
Complaint to the Nav unit | 12 weeks |
Complaint to the Nav Appeals Management Unit | 3 months |
Appeals to the Nav Appeals Management Unit | 3 months |
In this chapter
If you are under the age of 18, your children’s pension will be paid to your surviving parent. If you have lost both of your parents, the money will be paid to your legal guardian.
When you turn 18, the children’s pension can be paid to your (the child’s) bank account.
Children’s pension is paid out once a month.
Please be aware that these dates are when Nav guarantees you will have the money in your account.
| Payment dates in 2025 |
|---|
| 20. January |
| 20. February |
| 20. March |
| 16. April |
| 16. May |
| 20. June |
| 18. July |
| 20. August |
| 19. September |
| 20. October |
| 20. November |
| 12. December |
In your payment overview, you can see upcoming payments several days before the actual payment date.
Until the child turns 18 years old, the payment will not be visible in the payment overview. You can contact us if you have questions about the payment.
The time of day when the payment will be credited to your account will vary, as it is your bank that transfers the payment into your account. Payments can therefore arrive in your account in the afternoon or evening.
If you want to receive children's pension payments to a foreign bank account, please be aware that there is a fee for each payment. It may also take a bit longer for the money to reach your account. You can find more information about payments abroad here.
Holiday pay
There is no holiday pay on this benefit.
Children who are 18 years old or older change their account number themselves. If the child is under 18 years old, the parent or legal guardian changes the account number on behalf of the child.
Children over 18 years old must change their account number themselves.
Parents of children under 18 years old can log in and send us a message to change the bank account number for children's pension payments.
If you cannot log in, you can send the form for notifying a new bank account number by post. You must include a copy of valid identification. You can choose if you want to
- fill in the form digitally before printing it
- print out a paper form and fill it in by hand
As legal guardian you must send the form for notifying a new bank account number by post. You must include a copy of valid identification and guardianship certificate.
You can choose if you want to
- fill in the form digitally before printing it
- print out a paper form and fill it in by hand
Nav will deduct 17 percent in advance tax when paying out children’s pension.
Children’s pensions shall not be included in the tax card. Children’s pensions are taxable, and the deduction obligation is introduced from January 1, 2025. Payments for previous periods will have the same deduction rate. Voluntary deductions from previous periods will be stopped from the same date.
The Tax Administration has assessed that 17 percent tax on children’s pensions will be sufficient for most people, regardless of whether it is a parent, guardian, or the child themselves who receives the payment.
You can find more information here: Children and young people who have their own income or wealth - The Norwegian Tax Administration
For those who are not tax residents in Norway
If you are not liable to pay tax to Norway, you can apply to the Tax Administration for tax exemption. The Tax Administration answers questions about withholding tax on pensions and disability benefits for those who are not tax residents in Norway. You can read more about withholding tax on pensions and disability benefits at The Norwegian Tax Administration.
To ensure we do not deduct tax from the children's pension, you must send us the exemption decision.
The decision can be sent to:
Nav Familie- og pensjonsytelser
Postboks 6600 Etterstad
0607 Oslo
Norge/Norway
If you have already sent us the exemption decision, tax will not be deducted from your children's pension.
More about tax deductions on payments from Nav.
You must inform us if there are important changes in the life of the person receiving children's pension.
You must report:
- Changes in family situation
- Moving or staying in another country for an extended period
- Staying in an institution for a lasting period
If too much children's pension has been paid because Nav was not informed of changes, the money usually has to be paid back.
You must also report any errors in the payment of the children's pension.
How to report changes?
Until the child turns 18, it is the parent or legal guardian who reports changes on behalf of the child.
If you are over 18 and receive children's pension, you must report changes yourself.
If you are a legal guardian, or parent of a child under 18, you must report changes by post. You need to download a cover sheet to send along with the documents.
If you are over 18, you can report changes by sending us a message.
If you do not have BankID or cannot submit changes digitally, you must report changes by post.
If you are going abroad
First, you need to find out whether you will retain your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme while you are abroad.
Contact Nav to check whether you can keep your financial support during your temporary stay or permanent move abroad.
You may be entitled to pension payments abroad pursuant to the EEA agreement.
Will you keep your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme?
If you (the child) move to another country, you will cease to be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
Can you take your children’s pension with you when you move?
According to the rules in the Norwegian National Insurance Act, you can take pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme with you when you move abroad if one of your parents had lived in Norway for at least 20 years between the ages of 16 and 67 years. This applies regardless of which country you are moving to.
Social security agreements that Norway has with other countries may provide you with extended entitlement to continue receiving your children’s pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme after you have moved to the country with which Norway has a social security agreement.
However, there are restrictions on the right to receive children’s pension abroad for certain groups of people. This applies to the special entitlements in the calculation of pensions for
- orphaned children of a young disabled person
If you are receiving children’s pension pursuant to the exemption rules regarding the length of the deceased’s membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme prior to their death, you will lose your entitlement to payment if you move away from Norway.
A social security agreement between Norway and the country you are moving to may provide you with extended entitlement to pension payments.
Can you take your children’s pension with you when you move?
According to the rules in the Norwegian National Insurance Act, you can take pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme with you when you move abroad if one of your parents had lived in Norway for at least 20 years between the ages of 16 and 67 years. This applies regardless of which country you are moving to.
Social security agreements that Norway has with other countries may provide you with extended entitlement to continue receiving your children’s pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme after you have moved to the country with which Norway has a social security agreement.
However, there are restrictions on the right to receive children’s pension abroad for certain groups of people. This applies to the special entitlements in the calculation of pensions for
- refugees
- orphaned children of a young disabled person
If you are receiving children’s pension pursuant to the exemption rules regarding the length of the deceased’s membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme prior to their death, you will lose your entitlement to payment if you move away from Norway.
Will you keep your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme?
If you (the child) move to another country, you will cease to be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
Countries outside the EEA that Norway has a social security agreement with
If you move to one of these countries, you may have extended entitlement to pension payments:
United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Quebec, Chile, Turkey, Australia, Israel, India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.
You may be entitled to pension payments abroad pursuant to the National Insurance Act.
Will you keep your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme?
If you (the child) move to another country, you will cease to be a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme.
Can you take your children’s pension with you when you move?
According to the rules in the Norwegian National Insurance Act, you can take pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme with you when you move abroad if one of your parents had lived in Norway for at least 20 years between the ages of 16 and 67 years. This applies regardless of which country you are moving to.
Social security agreements that Norway has with other countries may provide you with extended entitlement to continue receiving your children’s pension from the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme after you have moved to the country with which Norway has a social security agreement.
However, there are restrictions on the right to receive children’s pension abroad for certain groups of people. This applies to the special entitlements in the calculation of pensions for
- refugees
- orphaned children of a young disabled person
If you are receiving children’s pension pursuant to the exemption rules regarding the length of the deceased’s membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme prior to their death, you will lose your entitlement to payment if you move away from Norway.
Your obligations if you move abroad
Until the child turns 18, it is the parent or legal guardian who reports the move on behalf of the child.
When you are over 18 years old, you must report the move yourself.
- Legal guardians must notify Nav in writing by post: Send documents to Nav. Enter the personal identification number of the person you are the legal guardian of.
- Children over 18 can report the move digitally or by post.
- Remember to register the move in the Norwegian National Registry
The legal guardian must contact the Norwegian Tax Administration to find out about the rules regarding duty to pay tax to Norway.
Updated 03/28/2025
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