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Division of AssetsTwo pots,
two calculations.

A divorce does not split “the finances” as one lump. Assets fall under the equalisation of accrued gains, retirement provision under the pension rights adjustment – each by its own rules. Throw both into one pot and the sum comes out wrong.

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  • Gains & pension kept separate
  • Disclosure & valuation
  • Frankfurt-Gallus

Mieke Karcher, Attorney · Last reviewed July 2026

Separating the pots

Two pots. Two rules.

The dividing line runs between assets and pension provision – not between the forms of investment. The decisive difference: you have to claim the gains yourself, the pension the court divides of its own accord.

Pot 1

Assets

Equalisation of accrued gains · §§ 1363 ff. BGB

  • Accounts
  • Real estate
  • Savings
  • Endowment life insurance

Only on application. Whoever fails to claim it, gives it away.

Pot 2

Retirement provision

Pension rights adjustment · § 1 VersAusglG

  • Statutory pension
  • Company pension
  • Civil servant pension
  • Riester / Rürup

Of the court’s own motion. Runs automatically within the divorce proceedings.

The same euro is not divided twice. What is accounted for in the pension rights adjustment stays out of the accrued gains – and vice versa.

Throw both into one pot and the sum comes out wrong.

Assets and pension provision are two different things with two different calculations. They run through different procedures – and the one does not include the other.

  • It means: assets go through the accrued gains, retirement provision through the pension rights adjustment – separately.
  • It does not mean: that the same euro is divided twice.

Assets

What is divided in the equalisation of accrued gains (Zugewinnausgleich)?

Not your assets, but your increase.

Under the statutory regime of the Zugewinngemeinschaft (community of accrued gains, § 1363 BGB) each spouse’s property stays separate – only what was added during the marriage is divided: Endvermögen (final assets) minus Anfangsvermögen (initial assets) (§ 1373 BGB). Whoever achieved the higher increase pays the other half of the difference (§ 1378 BGB). The cut-off date (Stichtag) for the final assets is service of the divorce petition (§ 1384 BGB).

You have to assert it actively. Unlike pensions, assets are not equalised automatically – without an application the court does not rule on it. Inheritances and gifts count towards the initial assets and remain exempt from equalisation (§ 1374 Abs. 2 BGB); their increases in value during the marriage, however, do count.

Retirement provision

What is divided in the pension rights adjustment (Versorgungsausgleich)?

Every entitlement built up during the marriage – each in half (§ 1 VersAusglG).

Statutory pension, company pension, civil servant pension and certified private provision such as Riester or Rürup all belong here (§ 2 VersAusglG). Unlike the accrued gains, this adjustment runs of the court’s own motion – a separate application is as a rule not needed.

How the entitlements are actually divided (internal division), when the adjustment is dispensed with, and a halving calculator: we cover this in detail on our page on the pension rights adjustment.

Allocation

What counts towards which pot?

The dividing line runs between assets and pension provision, not between the forms of investment.

A private endowment life insurance without a pension character falls into the assets and thus into the accrued gains – a pension entitlement from the same policy into the pension rights adjustment.

The same euro is not divided twice. What is accounted for in the pension rights adjustment stays out of the accrued gains.

Structuring

Can this be excluded?

Yes – through a marriage contract or a notarial divorce settlement agreement.

The equalisation of accrued gains and the pension rights adjustment can both be excluded in whole or in part, for example in favour of the Gütertrennung (separation of property, § 1408 BGB).

This freedom is not unlimited. The family court reviews such agreements for their validity and can set them aside where they disadvantage one spouse one-sidedly and unreasonably.

Calculator

Estimate the equalisation of gains yourself

Who pays whom, and how much, in the divorce? Our calculator works out, from each spouse’s initial and final assets, the accrued gain and the equalisation claim (half the difference, § 1378 BGB) – with purchasing-power indexation of the initial assets (§ 1376 BGB) and a cap. Free and with nothing transmitted.

Go to the calculator

Services

How we support you

Both pots calculated cleanly – from the initial assets to the divided pension entitlement.

Assess both pots

We separate assets and pension provision and show what falls into which pot – before any figures are run.

Equalisation of accrued gains

Determine initial and final assets, calculate the equalisation and – because it is required – assert it actively.

Pension rights adjustment

Record the entitlements, examine the division and keep an eye on minor entitlements or short marriages.

Disclosure & valuation

Value and document accounts, real estate and pension entitlements cleanly – the basis of every calculation.

Marriage contract & settlement

Draft and review agreements – valid and balanced, so that they hold up in court.

Enforcement & support

We assert your claims and support you through to the court’s decision.

What is not claimed here or poorly agreed does not come back – we calculate both pots before you sign.

Step by step

How both pots are calculated

Five stations from the cut-off date to the decision – assets and pension in parallel.

  1. 1

    Fix the cut-off date

    With service of the petition the cut-off date for the final assets is fixed.

    § 1384 BGB
  2. 2

    Draw up the assets

    Determine initial and final assets, allocate inheritances and gifts.

    Accrued gains
  3. 3

    Record the entitlements

    Gather pensions and private provision from the marriage.

    VersAusglG
  4. 4

    Calculate & assert

    Apply for the accrued gains actively – the pension runs of the court’s own motion.

    Application · own motion
  5. 5

    Agreement or court order

    Settlement in the agreement – or decision by the court.

    Notary / court order

Standard course – may differ in individual cases, as of 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Good to know

Is all my property divided in a divorce?

No. Under the statutory matrimonial regime, the community of accrued gains (Zugewinngemeinschaft), each spouse’s property stays separate (§ 1363 BGB); only the increase acquired during the marriage is shared. For each spouse it is: final assets minus initial assets (§ 1373 BGB); whoever achieved the higher accrued gain pays the other half of the difference (§ 1378 BGB). The cut-off date for the final assets is service of the divorce petition (§ 1384 BGB).

Do I have to apply for the equalisation of accrued gains?

Yes. Unlike pensions, assets are not equalised automatically – you have to assert the equalisation of accrued gains (Zugewinnausgleich) actively, otherwise the court will not rule on it. Stay silent and you give it away. The pension rights adjustment (Versorgungsausgleich), by contrast, runs of the court’s own motion.

What happens to my pension?

It falls under the pension rights adjustment (Versorgungsausgleich): every pension entitlement built up during the marriage – statutory pension, company pension, civil servant pension, Riester or Rürup – is split in half (§§ 1, 2 VersAusglG), and that of the court’s own motion. How the division works in detail is set out in full on our page on the pension rights adjustment.

Can we exclude the equalisation of gains and the pension rights adjustment?

Yes – through a marriage contract (Ehevertrag) or a notarial divorce settlement agreement (Scheidungsfolgenvereinbarung). Both can be excluded in whole or in part, for example in favour of separation of property (Gütertrennung, § 1408 BGB). This freedom is not unlimited: the family court reviews such agreements for their validity and can set them aside where they disadvantage one spouse one-sidedly and unreasonably.

Selected questions covered in detail in our guides:

The family home in the equalisation of gains: value, not half the house How a business is valued in the equalisation of gains Paying the equalisation without breaking up the business: deferral & liquidity Right to information: what you may learn about your partner’s assets Excluding or adjusting the equalisation of gains by marriage contract Foreign assets in the equalisation of gains: which matrimonial property law applies

Sources

Legal basis

The provisions mentioned in the text in their official wording on the “Gesetze im Internet” portal of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

§ 1363 BGB § 1373 BGB § 1374 BGB § 1378 BGB § 1384 BGB § 1408 BGB § 1 VersAusglG § 2 VersAusglG

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