Divorce for ECB and EU staff
Your divorce runs through the Familiengericht (family court) like any other. What is different is your retirement provision. The court does not divide a pension from the ECB, the EU or an international organization, and what happens instead is decided at a few specific points.
On this page · 6 sections
Who it is for
Who this page is for
This page is for staff of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, including ECB Banking Supervision, and of EIOPA. It is also for officials, temporary staff and contract staff of the Commission, the Parliament and the other EU institutions and agencies. The same goes for staff of intergovernmental organizations such as the European Patent Office, ESA or EUMETSAT in Darmstadt.
It is just as much for their spouses. They often work in Germany, have scaled back for the children or moved to Frankfurt with their partner, and in the divorce they are usually the side without an EU pension.
International family law is one of our focus areas. This page is not about the employment relationship itself, such as a dispute with the ECB or the EU over pay or pension; that is not family law.
Seconded national experts are not included
A national expert seconded to the EU remains employed by their employer in Germany, which stays responsible for their pension. The court divides their entitlements at the divorce in the usual way.
The pension
Why the pension is not divided at the divorce
A German Familiengericht (family court) does not divide entitlements with a supranational or intergovernmental pension provider at the divorce. They are not ready for equalization (ausgleichsreif) (§ 19 (2) no. 4 VersAusglG). The court cannot instruct the ECB or the EU to set up an entitlement of its own for the other spouse. It names the pension in its decision, and the adjustment follows after the divorce.
This later adjustment runs through payments by the former spouse. It only starts with the pension and ends with death. For the spouse without an EU pension, this is the uncertain part, and almost everything that has to be decided in these divorces turns on it.
EU sickness cover ends after one year
Anyone covered by the EU sickness insurance scheme through their spouse can stay covered for at most one year after the divorce becomes final (Art. 72 (1b) Staff Regulations). This applies only while they are not in gainful employment. Your own insurance therefore belongs in the plan early.
The questions
Four questions almost every case raises
The figures differ in every case, but the questions keep coming back.
Is there a pension rights adjustment at all?
If neither of you holds a German passport, the court often does not carry out the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment) of its own motion. That requires German divorce law to apply and the law of a country of which one of you is a national to provide for such an adjustment (Art. 17 (4) EGBGB). On application, it takes place nonetheless if one of you acquired an entitlement with a domestic pension provider during the marriage. The German statutory pension insurance is one example.
Is the other spouse’s German pension shared anyway?
Often not. If one spouse has an EU or ECB pension, the court can leave the other spouse’s German entitlements undivided (§ 19 (3) VersAusglG). The condition is that dividing them would be inequitable for that spouse. The Federal Court of Justice reads this generously, in a case that came from the local court in Königstein.
What remains after a death?
When the former spouse dies, the equalization pension lapses. The EU and the ECB then pay divorced spouses a benefit of their own only if maintenance was set by a court decision or a registered agreement. The ECB also requires that this decision or agreement provides for no payment from its pension. Otherwise, a claim against a widow or widower remains (§ 26 VersAusglG).
Wait, or settle it now?
Instead of waiting decades for the equalization pension, you can bring the adjustment forward. A lump-sum settlement can be demanded as early as the divorce proceedings (§ 23 VersAusglG). An agreement can offset the adjustment against assets or provide for contributions into the other spouse’s German statutory pension insurance (§§ 6 to 8 VersAusglG).
Where we start
Where we start
We start with a list of all entitlements on both sides. It covers the pension with the date of joining and the benefit statement, German pension rights, company pensions and any transfer into the EU or ECB scheme. From this it follows what the court divides at the divorce, what is equalized later and where an agreement brings more certainty.
For the ECB and the EU, we check before anything is signed how a provision on maintenance affects the benefit for divorced spouses. A single sentence in the agreement often decides it.
Legal position as of November 2026. The sections cited are in the VersAusglG and the EGBGB, the EU rules in the Staff Regulations.
Intake form
Gather the details for the petition now
The form asks for what the court requires, including on pension rights abroad. We review it before the first consultation.
- About half an hour, pause at any time
- Stays on this device until you send it
- We clarify gaps at the appointment
Further reading
Pension, survivors, agreement
Related topics
Often connected with this
- Pension rights adjustmentPension rights built up during the marriage are split.
- International family lawWhich court has jurisdiction and which law applies.
- Divorce settlement agreementEvery consequence in one contract, formally binding.
The first step
An appointment is not a decision
At our office, attorney Mieke Karcher handles the Versorgungsausgleich (pension rights adjustment). If assets, property or an agreement that offsets the adjustment against assets are involved, attorney Dietrich Karcher joins her.
60 minutes, at our office or via Zoom. We advise in German or English, and with attorney Dietrich Karcher in Spanish too. You are under no obligation to hire us after the first conversation.
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 fees are calculated