Equal Opportunities for Older Women

All Old Age Insurance Schemes

Judgement of the Court of Appeal of 28.12.1997 and the subsequent new legal regulation of 12.1.1998

EmpfängerInnen einer Hinterbliebenenrente

- Division of a survivors' pension among the different marital partners of an insured person;
- Establishment of a new computation basis for the pension benefits to be divided among the former marital partners from whom the deceased was divorced and his last marital partner, who has survived him/her.

Since 30.6.1980, any former, i.e., divorced marital partners (male or female) have a legal claim to a survivors' pension in as far as these have not re-married. This law applies to all cases in which the date of death lies after 30.6.1980; the new regulation does not apply in the other cases, so that then all claims remain with the surviving marital partner, and possible former (divorced) marital partners have no claims.

A new consequence of this change in the law is that the survivors' pension has to be divided among all the marital partners, i.e., the former divorced and the surviving partner, according to the number of years they were married to the deceased. The surviving marital partner only has claim to the undivided survivors' pension on condition that the marriage was contracted before 13.1.1998 and the divorce of the deceased was completed before 1.7.1980.

Anonym, 1998 : "Veuvage, divorce : les règles des pensions de réversion ont changé" (Widowhood and Divorce: New regulation of the survivors' pension), in Bellini Contact, No. 8, June, p 3 ;

Anonym, 1999 : "La réversion, une réforme plus souple"(Survivors' pension, a more flexible reform), in reflet, n 46, April, p. 6-7

ARCCO (Association pour le Régime de Retraite complémentaire des Salariés - Association of Supplementary Old Age Insurance Schemes for Employees), 44, Boulevard de la Bastille, F 75012 Paris

AGIRC (Association Générale des Institutions de Retraite des Cadres - Assocation of Pension Schemes for Senior Employees), 4, Rue Leroux, F 75016 Paris