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Pension questions

Denmark pension questions

These are the questions people search about a pension left in Denmark. Each page answers its question in the first two sentences, and we show those two sentences below, read from the official source with the date we read it. We identify where a pension is likely held and the route to it. We do not give advice.

English

  • Is the Danish ATP pension paid if I live abroad?

    ATP pays residents automatically but states that members living abroad are paid only on request. ATP Livslang Pension covers almost every employee who worked at least nine hours a week, and it is the one Danish entitlement a short career reliably creates.

    • Source: borger.dk, mitid.dk, pensionsinfo.dk, retsinformation.dk, read 4 October 2026
    • Source: borger.dk, retsinformation.dk, atp-anke.dk, read 4 October 2026

  • Is a small ATP pension paid as a lump sum?

    Official 2026 figures: if the annual ATP pension computes to DKK 3,600 or less it is converted to a single capitalised amount, and a 40 per cent state charge is deducted. One appeal case shows contributions across 1998 to 2022 producing an annual pension small enough to be capitalised before the charge.

    • Source: borger.dk, retsinformation.dk, atp-anke.dk, read 4 October 2026

  • Can I get Danish folkepension if I live abroad?

    Folkepension is separate and residence based: the full basic amount and single supplement are scaled down to the fraction actually lived in Denmark. Folkepension backdates to the month pension age was reached only if the application arrives by the 10th of the fifth month after that date; later than that, payment starts the first of the month after the application and the earlier months are gone.

    • Source: borger.dk, retsinformation.dk, atp-anke.dk, read 4 October 2026
    • Source: borger.dk, retsinformation.dk, read 4 October 2026

  • Do Danish pensioners abroad need a life certificate?

    A person who lives outside Denmark and receives folkepension, førtidspension or seniorpension must confirm every year that they are alive by returning a life certificate (leveattest) to Udbetaling Danmark. ATP sends life certificates to ATP Livslang Pension recipients living abroad each May, and the certificate must be returned to ATP.

    • Source: borger.dk, read 1 September 2026
    • Source: borger.dk, read 1 September 2026

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