In the event that you, as a beneficiary of a Germany pension, live abroad, you will generally receive the form for the certificate of life every year together with your pension adjustment notification.
These will be machine-generated and sent in the period from June to July 2024.
As of 2024, digital proof of life is also available worldwide. Once the digital form has been successfully submitted, you no longer have to additionally submit the certificate of life form by mail. All necessary documents (including the cover letter for digital proof of life) are enclosed in your pension adjustment notification.
Please note: In the event that you, as a beneficiary of a Germany pension, live in Germany and have a bank account abroad, you will receive the certificate of life form every year and/or the offer of digital proof of life beginning in 2024 together with your pension adjustment notification.
If you receive more than one pension, more than one proof of life may be needed. In this case, several forms for the 2024 certificate of life and several 2024 digital proof of life letters will be sent to you together with your pension adjustment notification.
Please provide all required proof of life. To do this, you can either
- complete all forms for the 2024 certificate of life, have them confirmed by an official body, and return the originals by mail or
- provide the 2024 digital proof of life for each pension
Please note: It is not permitted to return the certificate of life by e-mail or fax.
In the event you have received a pension adjustment notification without a certificate of life form, you are not required to submit a certificate of life this year. No further action is required on your part.
Please note:
A certificate of life generally is not required in the following countries, with which we are electronically networked: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
A certificate of life may nonetheless be required in some cases. In that case, you will receive all necessary documents together with your pension adjustment notification.
a) The certificate of life is sent to you by mail
Please sign the certificate of life yourself in Section A2 and have it confirmed in Section B by an official body.
The following bodies are regularly approved for certification:
- All public authorities, such as the police, municipalities (registration offices, mayor's offices), pension insurance providers, health insurance companies
- Financial institutions
- Parish offices, rabbinates
- Red Cross
- German representatives abroad (embassies, consulates)
- In addition, you will find country-specific bodies that are also approved at www.rentenservice.de/LB/FAQ.
Please also review the information in Section A1, where you will find your personal data. If this data is correct, you do not need to take any further action in this section. If it is no longer correct, please provide us with the correct data in the appropriate field.
Then please return the original by mail to the following address (use the return envelope enclosed in your pension adjustment notification for this purpose):
Deutsche Post AG
Niederlassung Renten Service
04078 Leipzig
Germany
A confirmed certificate of life is a prerequisite for continuing to receive your German pension. Payment of your pension will be suspended if we have not received the form by October 18, 2024.
b) You have not received the pension adjustment notification by mid-August 2024
If you have not received your pension adjustment notification by August 2, 2024, please contact the Renten Service (you will find the specific contact details at the end of this information) or your responsible pension insurance provider to inquire whether a certificate of life is required this year. If you have confirmation that a certificate of life is required this year, you can find the appropriate form on our website: www.rentenservice.de/LB/Formblatt
Please complete the certificate of life, sign it personally, and have it confirmed by an official body.
The following bodies are regularly approved for certification:
- All public authorities, such as the police, municipalities (registration offices, mayor's offices), pension insurance providers, health insurance companies
- Financial institutions
- Parish offices, rabbinates
- Red Cross
- German representatives abroad (embassies, consulates)
- In addition, you will find country-specific bodies that are also approved at www.rentenservice.de/LB/FAQ.
Please then return the original by mail to the following address:
Deutsche Post AG
Niederlassung Renten Service
04078 Leipzig
Germany
A confirmed certificate of life is a prerequisite for continuing to receive your German pension. Payment of your pension will be suspended if we have not received the form by October 18, 2024.
c) The pension beneficiary is unable to write
In that case, confirmation of this fact must be provided in Section C1 of the certificate of life.
d) The pension beneficiary is unable to speak to a competent authority in person
In that case, confirmation of this fact must be provided in Section C1 of the life certificate. The name of the person who visited the official body on behalf of the pension beneficiary must be given in Section C2.
e) The pension beneficiary is deceased
We are very sorry that you have lost a loved one and we do not wish to cause you any more inconvenience than necessary.
If you or the funeral directors have already notified us that the person entitled to the pension has died, then your notification and our dispatch of the adjustment, including the request for the annual proof of life, have overlapped. You do not need to do anything else.
If this is not the case, please complete the "Change Notification: Certificate of Life" and send it to:
For pensioners who reside in Germany
Deutsche Post AG
Niederlassung Renten Service
13497 Berlin
For pensioners who do not reside in Germany
Deutsche Post AG
Niederlassung Renten Service
13496 Berlin
You will find the form here Chance Notification: Certificate of Life