We would like to give a practical example of an older couple who decided to divorce. An 82-year-old lady and an 83-year-old man wanted to separate. The lady asked one of our lawyers whether she was entitled to part of her husband’s pension. At first the lawyer thought so. After all, the old-age and special partner’s pension accrued during the marital period is settled in accordance with the provisions of the law that is called Wet Pensioenverevening. In principle, the woman would be entitled to half of the old-age pension accrued by the man during the marital period. However, it turned out to be the second marriage of both. They were only married for three years. The man had of course not built up a pension since he was 80, so the woman had no right to the man’s old-age pension.
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Recht op ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding
When are you entitled to the old-age pension of your ex-partner in the event of a divorce? Under the current rules, you are both entitled to half of your ex-partner’s pension. However, this only concerns the pension that you have accrued during the marriage or registered partnership. We call this ‘pension settlement’. If you want to divide it in a different way, this is possible. These agreements have previously been drawn up by a notary in the prenuptial agreement or are now included in the divorce agreement. You can opt for a different distribution, which, for example, is settled with alimony. Or you forgo the other’s old-age pensions because you both choose to only use your own accrued pension rights. This often happens when the partners have accrued almost the same amount of pension.
Divorce lawyers / mediators