Versorgungsausgleich; Durchführung

If you divorce, the family court will decide on the division of the pension entitlements that you and your spouse/registered partner have acquired during your marriage/life partnership.

In the case of marriages divorced, annulled or declared null and void after July 1, 1977, the pension entitlements acquired by the spouses during the marriage are generally divided equally between the spouses. The same applies to ongoing benefit entitlements (e.g. pensions). These regulations also apply to all registered civil partnerships established from 01.01.2005. Pension equalization does not apply to earlier civil partnerships unless an application for pension equalization in the event of dissolution of the civil partnership has been filed with the local court by 31/12/2005. Since 01.10.2017, same-sex couples have also been able to marry.

The decision on pension equalization is made by the family court regardless of the type of pension rights.

Among other things, pension rights from the following pension schemes are divided up

• Statutory pension insurance,
• Civil service pension,
• Professional pension schemes (e.g. doctors' pensions),
• Pension scheme for farmers
• pensions for members of parliament and members of government.

You or your former spouse/partner must have acquired existing pension rights in Germany or abroad.

Pension equalization proceedings generally incur court costs, for which you must pay an advance. The amount of the court costs depends on your net income and the net income of your former spouse as well as the number of domestic and foreign pension rights to be examined.

• The family court decides on pension equalization as part of the divorce proceedings without a separate application.
• The family court determines the period of marriage for the purposes of pension rights adjustment. It will send both spouses/partners a form with a request to state their pension rights acquired during the marriage and their respective competent pension provider. It requests information from the pension providers about the entitlements acquired during the marriage/life partnership period.
• The family court lists the decision on the pension equalization in the divorce decree.