In international divorces, one spouse has often worked outside of the country. If one spouse has worked in Switzerland, for example, and has acquired AHV and pension fund benefits there, while the other spouse has only acquired pension benefits in Germany, German family courts will regularly refer the spouses to the so-called compensation under the law of obligations in accordance with §§ 20, 23 VersAusglG.

Foreign pensions cannot be compensated by German courts by court ruling, as German courts do not have the authority to rule on foreign insurance policies. However, in the context of pension compensation, the court can order that the claims of the spouses must be compensated.

Normally, the ex-spouse who is obliged to compensate must pay half of the pension related to the period of marriage to their ex-spouse as soon as they receive the Swiss pension. The problem is that the ex-spouse may die prematurely, for example, and then no longer be able to pay a compensatory pension.

However, according to § 23 VersAusglG, the person entitled to compensation can already demand a settlement, i.e. an appropriate sum of money, from the person liable for compensation for an entitlement that has not yet been compensated. The only exception is if the payment of the settlement is unreasonable for the person subject to compensation. However, this application must usually be made by a lawyer; the court does not take this circumstance into account automatically.

The settlement thus protects the person entitled to compensation if the insured event occurs earlier than the person obliged to pay compensation or that the latter dies before the former. The obligor retains his or her own pension but must provide the beneficiary with the capital required to create an independent pension in the amount of the settlement value or to expand an existing pension. § 23 VersAusglG therefore also stipulates that the settlement must be paid to the pension provider of the person entitled to compensation for this specific purpose. However, it is not possible to pay the settlement directly to the applicant.

The application can be made at any time: both during the ongoing divorce proceedings and after the divorce proceedings have been concluded, even if there is no entitlement to the current compensatory pension and even if the compensatory pension has already been paid for years.

You have not applied for AHV pension compensation as part of your divorce? Please feel free to contact us! We will be happy to advise you on this topic and check your claim. If there is a chance of success, we will be happy to submit a corresponding application to the court for you. As a rule, the court determines the settlement amount through an expert, checks whether the payment is reasonable for the person obliged to pay compensation and then orders full, partial or installment payment. We also offer consultation over the phone or via videoconference.