If your spouse worked in France and has died, you may be able to claim part of the French pension that he or she received, or could have received, even if you are British and live in the United Kingdom. In French law this benefit is called a pension de réversion, meaning a survivor’s pension. Brexit did not turn every cross-border pension claim into an immigration application, but it did make the route, the applicable coordination rules and the supporting evidence more important. The result depends on the deceased person’s French pension rights, your legal relationship, your age, your resources, the date of death and the pension schemes involved.

This guide concerns the French basic pension survivor’s pension, with a separate explanation of supplementary schemes and UK bereavement benefits. It is aimed at a British spouse or former spouse dealing with a death in France, in Britain or elsewhere. It explains whether marriage, a UK address or a British pension affects the claim; how the Withdrawal Agreement and the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement may matter; how to apply from the UK; how the twelve-month backdating rule works; and what to do if a French fund refuses or delays payment. A survivor’s pension is not inherited automatically: the claim must be filed, supported and checked against the fund’s decision.

I. Can a British spouse qualify for a French survivor’s pension after Brexit?

A. What are the French eligibility conditions for a surviving spouse or former spouse?

The first question is whether the deceased person was affiliated with the French pension scheme concerned. For the French Social Security Retirement Insurance, the deceased must have received, or been able to receive, a basic pension from that scheme. This commonly concerns a private-sector employee, a self-employed worker, a contractor in the public service or an artist-author. A French address is not the legal test. A person who worked in France and later retired in Britain can still have a French pension record. Conversely, a British National Insurance record alone does not create a French basic pension entitlement.

The legal starting point is Article L. 353-1 of the French Social Security Code. Its opening rule states: « En cas de décès de l’assuré, son conjoint survivant a droit à une pension de réversion ». The provision immediately makes that right subject to an age condition and to resource ceilings set by regulation. In practice, the claim must therefore establish both the deceased person’s French pension connection and the survivor’s own conditions.

Marriage is essential for the basic scheme. The official Service-Public guide to the survivor’s pension says that the couple must have been married. It also states that a civil partnership or cohabitation does not open this basic right. A French PACS, short for pacte civil de solidarité or civil solidarity pact, is not a marriage for this purpose. An unmarried British partner should not assume that a long relationship, joint ownership of a French home or a nomination in a will is enough. A UK civil partnership also requires a careful recognition analysis; it should not simply be treated as a French marriage without checking the scheme and the documents.

A divorced spouse can qualify. Article L. 353-3 of the Social Security Code provides: « Le conjoint divorcé est assimilé à un conjoint survivant pour l’application de l’article L. 353-1. » That rule does not mean that every divorced applicant receives the whole pension. If the deceased remarried, the French survivor’s pension can be shared between the surviving spouse and earlier divorced spouses. The shares reflect the respective duration of each marriage, subject to each applicant satisfying the other conditions. A divorce decree, the dates of every marriage and evidence of any later marriage should therefore be collected before the application is sent.

The ordinary age condition is 55. The date on which the pension can start cannot be earlier than the first day of the month in which the claimant satisfies the age condition, subject to historic exceptions for older deaths. The age of the deceased person does not replace the claimant’s age test. Someone aged 52 whose spouse has just died should ask separately about any widow’s or widower’s allowance rather than filing only for the survivor’s pension and assuming that payment will start immediately.

Resources are the other major filter. The Service-Public page verified on 1 January 2026 states gross annual ceilings of €25,001.60 for a person living alone and €40,002.56 for a person living as a couple. These figures are regulatory amounts and can change; the current official page and the application form should be checked at the time of filing. The relevant household is not necessarily the household that existed on the day of death. The fund examines the claimant’s situation and the resources included by the applicable rules.

For a British claimant, “resources” means more than a French salary. A UK State Pension, a private pension, investment income, rental income, taxable benefits and other foreign receipts may need to be declared. The application form asks for financial information so that the fund can assess the ceiling. Do not leave a UK pension blank because it is paid into a British bank account, and do not convert sterling figures informally without retaining the statements and the method used. If a resource is excluded, say why and provide the document supporting that treatment.

The regulation also controls how the fund looks at income. Article R. 353-1 of the Social Security Code states: « Les revenus d’activité du conjoint survivant font l’objet d’un abattement de 30 % s’il est âgé de 55 ans ou plus. » The same provision deals with the three calendar months before the award and, where those resources exceed one quarter of the ceiling, the preceding twelve months. A claimant who has recently stopped working, started receiving a UK pension or moved from France to Britain should explain the change rather than sending a single payslip that gives a misleading picture.

The fund normally calculates the basic survivor’s pension as 54% of the basic retirement pension that the deceased received, or would have received. That percentage is not a promise of 54% of every pension in the household. It concerns the relevant basic pension and remains subject to the resource rules. If the deceased had a French supplementary employee pension, the supplementary scheme has its own survivor’s pension conditions. Agirc-Arrco, the main supplementary scheme for private-sector employees, should be contacted separately where it is not covered by the single application route. A calculation should list each French scheme instead of treating one award as the complete French entitlement.

Tax is a separate question from entitlement and resource assessment. The French tax administration explains in its guidance for non-residents that a pension paid by an organisation based in France can be French-source income, while the France–UK tax treaty may determine where it is taxable. The official impots.gouv.fr guidance on declaring pensions as a non-resident recommends identifying the nature of the pension with the pension body and then checking the treaty. A British claimant should therefore keep the award notice and tax statements, but should not assume that the resource ceiling, the French tax rule and UK tax treatment use the same definition or period.

There can also be an increase for a claimant with dependent children, a long-term increase linked to age and total pensions, or a minimum subject to the statutory conditions. Article L. 353-5 refers to a flat-rate increase for a surviving spouse who is not receiving a personal basic retirement benefit and has a dependent child, while Article L. 353-6 provides that the survivor’s pension may carry an increase once the surviving spouse reaches the statutory age, subject to a ceiling on the combined retirement benefits. These provisions are not automatic bonuses: the claimant must disclose the relevant age, children and pension information and ask the fund to apply the correct rule.

B. Does Brexit remove the right, and how does a UK residence or UK benefit interact with it?

Brexit does not answer the eligibility question by itself. The date and nature of the cross-border situation matter. The Centre des liaisons européennes et internationales de sécurité sociale (CLEISS), France’s public body for European and international social-security coordination, explains in its Brexit FAQ that the Withdrawal Agreement safeguards pre-existing social-security entitlements for people whose cross-border circumstances continue, while the Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains coordination rules for later situations. CLEISS describes principles including equal treatment, aggregation of periods and exportability of benefits.

That framework is not a blanket instruction to add every UK contribution to every French calculation. It is a coordination system whose application depends on the deceased person’s insurance history, the claimant’s situation, the relevant dates and the pension scheme. French and UK periods may help establish entitlement under the applicable rules, but the French fund still determines the French benefit and the UK institution determines the UK benefit. Keep a timeline showing residence, employment, insurance and pension dates in both countries.

A British spouse can live in the UK and still claim a French survivor’s pension when the deceased had the necessary French pension rights. The official French survivor’s pension guidance confirms that the claim concerns the deceased person’s French basic pension, not the claimant’s nationality or place of payment. For the international route, a person living abroad in a country with a social-security agreement should contact the local social-security fund, which provides a form and forwards it to the French fund. If the country has no relevant agreement, the application is sent to the French regional fund that paid the deceased’s pension or, for an active worker, the fund connected with the latest activity. The route should be confirmed for the particular UK file, and proof of transmission should be retained.

Do not confuse the French pension claim with immigration status. A titre de séjour, meaning a French residence permit, may be relevant if the survivor is moving to France, but it is not what creates the pension right. Nor is an S1 form, the portable document used for healthcare registration, proof that a French pension is payable. The evidence for the pension is the deceased person’s French affiliation and the claimant’s marriage, age and resource position.

The UK has a separate benefit called Bereavement Support Payment. The official GOV.UK eligibility page says that it is not means-tested and that, at the time of death, the claimant must generally have been below State Pension age, living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits, and married, in a civil partnership or living with the partner as if married. The deceased must normally have paid the required Class 1 or Class 2 National Insurance contributions or died through a work-related accident or disease. This UK claim is separate from the French pension de réversion. A British claimant may need to approach both administrations and should not assume that a UK award replaces the French application.

The British deadline is also different. GOV.UK states that a Bereavement Support Payment claim is usually required within 21 months of the death, and that claiming within three months generally matters for receiving the full amount. That timetable does not extend the French twelve-month backdating period. Put both deadlines in the file on the day the death is registered.

Finally, a UK spouse should distinguish the French basic scheme from a deceased person’s private pension, workplace death-in-service benefit, life insurance and UK State Pension arrangements. A beneficiary nomination may control an insurance payment but does not prove entitlement to a French statutory survivor’s pension. A will may assist the estate but does not replace the pension form. Each institution needs its own claim, and each claim may use a different definition of spouse, dependent child or resource.

II. How should a UK spouse apply in France and challenge a refusal?

A. What documents and deadlines protect the application?

Start with the date of death and request the French survivor’s pension without waiting for the estate to be distributed. Under Article R. 353-7 of the Social Security Code, the claimant chooses a start date subject to statutory limits. The text states: « Cette date est nécessairement le premier jour d’un mois ». It also provides that, when the application is filed within one year of death, the start date may be set as early as the first day of the month following death. After that period, the start date is normally no earlier than the first day of the month following the application.

This is not a vague administrative target. Missing the twelve-month period can cost months of payments even if the claimant later proves every substantive condition. A claim sent from Britain should therefore be filed before the document bundle is perfect. If an apostille, certified translation or foreign death certificate is delayed, submit the application, identify the missing item and ask the fund to keep the filing date. Save the online confirmation, postal receipt, tracking record, upload screen and every message exchanged with the French or UK institution.

The start date also cannot precede the date on which the age condition is met, and it cannot generally precede the application. If you are already 55, write the requested first day clearly on the form. If you reach 55 after the death, calculate the earliest lawful month and do not rely on an automatic award. If the deceased disappeared rather than being formally declared dead, obtain advice on the special procedure before using the ordinary death form.

The central online service may permit one application covering several basic and supplementary pension schemes. The Service-Public guide nevertheless warns that some funds, including Agirc-Arrco in the situations it identifies, require a separate application. A British claimant should use the central service where accessible and then check the list of schemes shown in the confirmation. If a French fund appears on the deceased person’s pension statement but not on the confirmation, send a separate written request to that fund and keep the reference numbers together.

If the claimant lives in the UK, contact the competent UK social-security or pension institution and the French fund identified in the deceased person’s records. The international application route is designed to let the local institution provide and transmit the form where a social-security agreement applies. That channel is useful because it can confirm the claimant’s identity and residence, but it does not remove the need to describe the French pension record accurately. If the local institution cannot process the claim, ask for a written explanation and send the application directly to the French regional fund while preserving proof of both attempts.

A practical evidence bundle should contain the following:

• the death certificate, or acte de décès, meaning the official civil-status record confirming the death;
• the marriage certificate and, where relevant, the certificate showing a later change of name;
• the claimant’s passport or identity document, date of birth and proof of current address;
• the deceased person’s French social-security number, pension award notice, employment record or the latest French pension correspondence;
• divorce decrees and certificates for every earlier marriage when the deceased had previously been married;
• bank details capable of receiving the payment, with an explanation if the account is in the UK;
• French, UK and other foreign pension statements, tax notices, employment income and investment or rental records required for the resource assessment;
• proof of dependent children if an increase is requested; and
• certified French translations and any apostille or legalisation requested by the receiving fund for a particular foreign civil-status document.

A traduction certifiée, or certified translation, is not the same as an informal translation by a family member. Ask the fund or the relevant civil-status authority what form it accepts before paying for documents. An apostille authenticates the origin of a public document; it does not translate the document and does not prove that the substantive information is correct. Names, dates and places must match across the British passport, marriage certificate, French records and pension statements. A discrepancy such as “Elizabeth Smith” on one document and “Elizabeth Jones” on another should be explained with the marriage certificate instead of left for a caseworker to guess.

For a resource assessment, prepare a short schedule in euros and retain the original sterling statements. Identify the statement date, the exchange-rate method, the gross amount and any deduction. Separate capital from income, explain a one-off payment and disclose a new pension that began after the death. If you believe an item must be excluded, cite the relevant form instruction or rule and attach evidence. The objective is not to hide a difficult item; it is to let the fund apply the correct rule and avoid a refusal based on incomplete information.

Where there is a former spouse, calculate the marriage periods from date to date. Article R. 353-4 states: « la durée de chaque mariage est déterminée de date à date et arrondie au nombre de mois inférieur ». Provide a civil-status timeline rather than arguing that the most recent spouse should receive everything. A British divorce order may need a certified translation and, where relevant, evidence of recognition in France. The fund can then compare the legally relevant marriage durations and identify any missing applicant.

Under-55 claimants should also ask whether the separate widow’s or widower’s allowance is available. The French term allocation veuvage means a temporary widow’s or widower’s allowance, not the retirement-based survivor’s pension. Article L. 356-1 begins: « L’assurance veuvage garantit au conjoint survivant de l’assuré ». The official L’Assurance retraite guidance sets different age, income, residence and contribution conditions and a separate application period. A person living in the UK should ask the fund to state in writing whether the residence rule and any international exception are met. Do not wait until the claimant turns 55 if the temporary allowance deadline is running.

Once the file is submitted, ask for the name of the competent caisse, meaning the pension fund, the registration number, the missing-document list and the expected decision route. If the fund asks the same question twice, answer it with a dated cover letter and attach the previous response. If the claimant moves, begins another pension or changes household status, report the change. A survivor’s pension is not frozen forever at its first calculation.

B. What should a claimant do after a refusal, an incorrect calculation or silence?

Read the decision line by line. Separate a refusal of the right itself from a refusal caused by missing evidence, a resource reduction, a disputed date or a calculation that omits one scheme. Record the date on which the notification was received, the fund’s reference number, the reason given, the start date used and the appeal instructions. A French letter may use terms such as notification (formal decision), ressources (resources) or date d’entrée en jouissance (payment start date). Translate the legal effect, not just the words.

For an ordinary basic pension application, the official Service-Public guide states that a failure to respond for more than four months is treated as a refusal decision. Silence should therefore not be treated as evidence that the file is progressing. Send a request for the status and a copy of the decision, but also calculate the appeal deadline from the date the refusal is deemed to exist or was notified. If the fund has not issued a clear decision, an adviser can help identify the safest procedural date.

The first challenge is normally a Commission de recours amiable (CRA), translated as an amicable appeal commission. Article R. 142-1 of the Social Security Code gives the central deadline: « Cette commission doit être saisie dans le délai de deux mois à compter de la notification de la décision ». Send a reasoned written appeal within two months. Use a channel that proves receipt, such as the fund’s secure messaging service with a saved confirmation or tracked post to the address in the decision. Keep the original decision and a complete copy of the appeal.

A useful CRA appeal should make the correction easy to identify. Begin with the decision date and the claim number. State the result requested: recognition of entitlement, a different payment start date, correction of the resources, recalculation of a divorced-spouse share, or referral to a supplementary fund. Then set out a short chronology and attach numbered evidence. If the fund says there was no qualifying marriage, attach the marriage certificate and any document explaining a name change. If it says the deceased had no French rights, attach the French pension notice, social-security number, employment periods or letters from the French fund. If it used the wrong resource period, attach the three- and twelve-month statements and show the calculation.

Brexit-specific grounds should be stated precisely. Do not write only that “Brexit should not matter”. Explain whether the deceased had French insurance periods before 31 December 2020, whether the cross-border situation continued, whether later French and UK periods need coordination, and which provision or official coordination route the fund failed to consider. The CLEISS FAQ records that pre-existing entitlements can remain protected under the Withdrawal Agreement and that the later Trade and Cooperation Agreement contains social-security coordination provisions. Attach the UK insurance record and a timeline so the fund can apply the correct instrument to the facts.

If the refusal concerns a UK benefit, make a separate UK appeal or reconsideration request under the instructions in the GOV.UK decision. The French CRA cannot order the UK to pay Bereavement Support Payment, and a UK decision-maker cannot award a French pension de réversion. The two files may use related facts but they remain separate legal decisions. Tell each institution about the other claim when a form asks for foreign benefits or pensions, and keep copies of the answers.

There may be an appeal to the judicial court after the CRA stage, depending on the decision and the applicable social-security litigation route. The decision should identify the court and the time limit. A claimant living in Britain should obtain advice quickly if the CRA rejects the appeal, if the commission does not answer, or if the file involves several marriages, a foreign civil partnership, a disputed translation or a large arrears claim. Court proceedings are not a substitute for filing the CRA appeal on time.

Also monitor a pension that has already been awarded. Article R. 353-1-1 states: « La pension de réversion est révisable en cas de variation dans le montant des ressources ». A move between Britain and France, a new personal pension, a change from living alone to living as a couple, or a new rental income can affect the calculation. Notify the fund promptly and keep evidence of the date of the change. Conversely, if a foreign income stops and the pension should increase, send the updated evidence rather than accepting a continuing reduction.

Finally, check any increases that may have been missed. A dependent-child increase, an age-related increase or a divorced-spouse allocation may require facts that were not available in the first application. Ask the fund to review the complete rights record, but do not send an “update” that accidentally replaces the original claim date. State clearly that the request supplements the claim and preserves the original filing date.

Conclusion

A British spouse can have a French survivor’s pension claim after Brexit when the deceased person had the relevant French pension rights and the survivor meets the French rules. The decisive questions are usually marriage, age, resources, the French scheme involved and the timing of the application. Residence in Britain does not by itself defeat the claim, but it makes the international route, civil-status documents, translations, pension statements and proof of transmission especially important.

File within twelve months if you want to preserve the earliest possible start date, and make a separate assessment of any UK Bereavement Support Payment. Build a dated evidence bundle, disclose foreign income accurately, identify every French pension scheme and keep the application confirmation. If a French fund refuses or miscalculates the claim, use the CRA within two months of the notification and state the exact correction sought. A cross-border pension file is strongest when the legal relationship, insurance history, resources and dates can be read without assumptions.

The official sources used for this article include the French Social Security Code on Légifrance, Service-Public’s survivor’s pension guidance, L’Assurance retraite’s international death procedure, the CLEISS Brexit FAQ and GOV.UK’s Bereavement Support Payment guidance. They should be checked again when a claim is filed because thresholds, forms and administrative routes can change.

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