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.

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.

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:

• Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• KLP insurance

If you are in education, you can apply for grants and loans from the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (“Lånekassen”).

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.

You can contact Nav for more information and guidance, and/or help filling out the application form.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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 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.

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.