EU pension in a German divorce: rules for officials and contract staff

Is the EU pension divided at the divorce?

A German Familiengericht (family court) does not divide a pension from EU service at the divorce. The EU is a supranational pension provider, and entitlements with it are not ready for equalization (ausgleichsreif) § 19 (2) no. 4 VersAusglG. For such entitlements, no equalization of value takes place at the divorce § 19 (1) VersAusglG.

A German court cannot instruct the EU to set up an entitlement in its pension scheme for the other spouse. It therefore only names the EU pension in the reasons for its decision § 224 (4) FamFG. The adjustment follows after the divorce § 19 (4) VersAusglG.

This sets the EU pension apart from the pension of German civil servants, which is divided at the divorce. How that works is explained in Civil servant pension on divorce: how it is divided and reduced.

Who this affects

The EU pension scheme covers officials, temporary staff and contract staff of the institutions and bodies Art. 77 Staff Regulations; Art. 39, 109 CEOS. This includes the agencies whose staff are equally subject to the Staff Regulations, such as EIOPA in Frankfurt Art. 68 (1) Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010.

Seconded national experts are not covered. They remain employed by their own employer, which stays responsible for their pension Art. 1 (1) Commission Decision C(2008) 6866. Their German entitlements are divided at the divorce as usual.

The European Central Bank has a pension scheme of its own. Its pensions also remain undivided at the divorce. What applies to ECB staff is set out on our page on divorce for ECB and EU staff.

The Staff Regulations do not stand in the way of the adjustment

The Staff Regulations govern only the relationship between the EU and its staff, not the relationship between divorced spouses. They therefore do not prevent a Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) under German law CJEU, judgment of June 10, 1999, C-430/97.

Many careers in Brussels follow the pattern of that case. A German couple had been divorced there under Belgian law. Before the local court of Cologne, the wife then claimed an adjustment from the pension of her former husband, a former Commission official. According to the judgment, it is not a breach of the prohibition of discrimination that a German official bears a heavier burden this way than a colleague with another passport.

Transferred German pension becomes EU pension

EU staff can transfer entitlements from earlier employment into the EU pension scheme, for example from the German statutory pension insurance. This is possible once per country and pension scheme. The EU converts the transferred capital into pensionable years of service Art. 11 (2) Annex VIII Staff Regulations.

For the divorce, this means that anything transferred is part of the EU pension and is no longer divided at the divorce. So declare any transfer in the proceedings, with its date and the entitlements it came from.

What happens after the divorce

Your share falls due as soon as your former spouse draws the pension and a pension event has occurred for you as well § 20 (1), (2) VersAusglG. That is the case once you draw a pension yourself, have reached the standard retirement age or have reduced earning capacity. At the EU, the pensionable age is 66, with transitional rules for staff who were in service before 2014 Art. 77 Staff Regulations; Art. 22 Annex XIII Staff Regulations.

Your former spouse then pays you half of the share earned during the marriage as a monthly pension, the equalization pension under the law of obligations (schuldrechtliche Ausgleichsrente). The Familiengericht (family court) rules on it only on application § 223 FamFG. Instead of waiting for the pension, you can demand a lump-sum settlement, to the extent that this is reasonable for your former spouse § 23 VersAusglG.

Survivor’s pension and health insurance

If your former spouse dies, the EU pays you a survivor’s pension (Hinterbliebenenversorgung) only if you were entitled to maintenance at the time of death. That maintenance must have been set by a court or by a formally registered agreement. The survivor’s pension never exceeds that maintenance Art. 27 Annex VIII Staff Regulations. Waiving maintenance at the divorce can therefore cost you this pension.

If you were covered by the EU sickness insurance scheme through your spouse, you can stay covered for at most one year after the divorce becomes final. You must not be in gainful employment, and you pay no contribution for this cover Art. 72 (1b) Staff Regulations. Arrange your own insurance in good time.

If only one spouse works for the EU

If only your spouse has an EU pension, the court can leave your German entitlements undivided to the extent that dividing them would be inequitable for you § 19 (3) VersAusglG.

An agreement can replace the later adjustment. It can offset the adjustment against assets or provide for contributions into the other spouse’s German statutory pension insurance §§ 6 to 8 VersAusglG.

The next step

At our office, attorney Mieke Karcher handles the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment). If an agreement involving assets is on the table, attorney Dietrich Karcher joins her. The first consultation costs up to €190 plus VAT, at most €226.10 in total. If we take on your case, this fee is credited toward our further fees. How the further fees are calculated is set out under Costs. Our page on the pension rights adjustment describes the overall framework.