Divorce
You are married and you no longer want to stay with your partner. Getting a divorce is an option. When you get divorced, there are a lot of things you need to take care of. For instance, you have to make arrangements about your pension.
Division of retirement pension
The law states that your former partner is entitled to half of the retirement pension that was accrued from the marriage date until the divorce. This is called equalisation. If you apply for equalisation with the pension fund within 2 years after the divorce date, the pension fund will pay out half of the pension directly to your former partner.
You and your former partner can also make other arrangements. These arrangements must be recorded in your prenuptial agreement, partnership terms or divorce agreement. Conversion is only possible if the pension fund has given its written consent.
What should you do?
You want to opt for equalisation
Report this to the pension fund within 2 years of your divorce. Use the following government form for this purpose: 'Mededelingsformulier in verband met verdeling van ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding'. (This is a notification form that specifies how retirement pension is to be divided following a divorce, only available in Dutch).
If we do not hear from you or your former partner within 2 years, we will not be able to pay a pension directly to your former partner, even if the 2 of you had made agreements on the division of your retirement pension. In this situation, you will have to arrange the division of your pension between the 2 of you.
You have made other arrangements together
Please indicate your arrangements on the ‘Mededelingsformulier in verband met verdeling van ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding’ form. Send us the completed form with a certified copy of your prenuptial agreement, partnership terms or divorce agreement. We only need a copy of:
- the 1st page with the names of you and your former partner
- the page with your pension arrangements
- the last page with your signature and that of your partner
If you married or entered into a registered partnership outside of the Netherlands, please include a certified copy of your marriage certificate or certificate of registered partnership. If your marriage or registered partnership was terminated abroad, we also need a certified copy of the proof of divorce or the proof of termination of the registered partnership.
We will send your former partner an overview of the pension amounts.
Do you need to deregister your former partner?
The pension fund wants to be informed of your divorce. We need this information to calculate your pension.
- Do you live in the Netherlands?
The municipality you live in will notify us of the change. - Do you live abroad?
Deregister your partner through My Pension.
Dividing the partner's pension
When you divorce, your former partner is entitled to (a part of) the partner’s pension. Specifically, all the partner's pension that has been accrued up until you separate and that has not already been allocated to another partner. This is called special partner's pension.
You and your former partner can also make other arrangements. These arrangements have to be recorded in your divorce agreement or prenuptial agreement. These agreements will only be implemented if the pension fund has given its written approval.