Did you know that, as regards the survivor’s pension (eg widow’s pension), the Staff Regulations specify that this pension is only granted if there has been a marriage. The recognized partnership is not taken into account.
For a survivor’s pension to be granted to the spouse (marriage), this marriage must have been effective for 1 year in the case of marriage before retirement or for 5 years in the case of marriage after retirement.
Article 17
Where an official dies having one of the administrative statuses set out in Article 35 of the Staff Regulations, the surviving spouse shall be entitled provided that the couple were married for at least one year at the time of his death and subject to the provisions of Article 1 (1) and Article 22, to a survivor’s pension equal to 60 % of the retirement pension which the official would have been paid if he had qualified, irrespective of length of service or of age, for such pension at the time of death.
The duration of the marriage shall not be taken into account if there are one or more children of the marriage or of a previous marriage of the official provided that the surviving spouse maintains or has maintained those children, or if the official’s death resulted either from physical disability or sickness contracted in the performance of his duties or from accident.
Article 18
Where a former official was in receipt of retirement pension the surviving spouse shall be entitled, provided that the couple were already married before the official left the service of an institution and that the marriage had lasted at least one year, and subject to the provisions of Article 22, to a survivor’s pension equal to 60 % of the retirement pension which he was receiving at the time of his death. The minimum survivor’s pension shall be 35 % of the last basic salary; the amount of the survivor’s pension shall in no case, however, exceed the amount of the retirement pension which the spouse was receiving at the time of death. The duration of the marriage shall not be taken into account if there are one or more children of a marriage contracted by the official before he left the service, provided that the surviving spouse maintains or has maintained those children.
Article 19
Where a former official was in receipt of invalidity allowance the surviving spouse shall be entitled, subject to the provisions of Article 22 of this Annex, provided that the couple were married when the official became eligible for the allowance, to a survivor’s pension equal to 60 % of the invalidity allowance which the spouse was receiving at the time of death. The minimum survivor’s pension shall be 35 % of the final basic salary; the amount of the survivor’s pension shall in no case, however, exceed the amount of the invalidity allowance which the spouse was receiving at the time of death.
Article 20
For the purpose of Articles 17a, 18, 18a, and 19 ◄ the duration of the marriage shall not be taken into account where the marriage, though contracted after termination of the official’s service, has lasted at least five years.