Transitional allowances for surviving dependents ("death grant")

Members’ surviving dependents are entitled to transitional allowances. In the past, these payments served a double purpose: firstly – and above all – they are a welfare-type benefit that is intended to make it easier for surviving dependents to adjust financially to their new living conditions. Similar benefits are granted to pensioners as well as being provided for in most collective agreements for employees.

Secondly, transitional allowances originally served to cover the costs of a funeral ("death grant"). In view of the fact that this death grant has been dropped completely from the benefits granted to individuals who hold statutory health insurance, the transitional allowances for Members have also been reduced by € 1,050. The amount by which they have been reduced is exactly the same as the sum by which the corresponding benefit provided under statutory health insurance has been cut back in two stages.