Brochure Divorce

Divorce
Version: 09.05.2016
Version 09.05.2016
Divorce and pension
There are ten thousand divorces in the
Netherlands every year. Divorce leaves
(marriage) partners with a lot of affairs to
arrange, including their pensions. The
question that arises here is: what about
the pension entitlements both partners
have accrued over the years? This
brochure outlines what needs to be done
and describes how to arrange pension
matters in a proper way in settling
divorces.
When using the term ‘divorce’ we also
mean the termination of a registered
partnership or a notarial partnership.
Divorce
Upon divorce the marriage is dissolved
and any partner’s pension and retirement
pension must be distributed by law. For
notarial cohabitation contracts the above
applies only when included in a certified
termination contract.
After the divorce, a proportion of your
retirement pension must be paid to your
former partner when you retire. The
retirement pension that your former
partner receives is called an ‘equalized
pension’. If you should die, your former
partner is also entitled to a partner’s
pension - the ‘special partner’s pension’.
Divorce agreement
A notary or a lawyer can draw up a
divorce agreement. In the agreement the
parties can agree to deviate from the
rules that the law stipulates for the
distribution of the pension entitlements
upon divorce. Divorce agreement
sample texts are available upon your
request via our Pension Desk
+31 (0)45-5788100 or email
[email protected]).
If you have also accrued capital during
your marriage under a pre-retirement
scheme, that also has to be distributed
equally. The same applies if you have
accrued a pre-pension entitlement
(temporary retirement pension and early
retirement pension).
The law stipulates how all these different
matters should be settled.
However, you can also deviate from the
statutory rules by having a divorce
agreement drawn up, or by including an
agreement on this in a pre-nuptial
agreement. If you do not want to follow
the statutory rules, you will always require
the assistance of a lawyer or notary.
Pre-nuptial agreement
You can draw up (or amend) a prenuptial agreement before you get
married, but also during your marriage.
In the agreement you can make
arrangements on how to settle your
pension affairs if you should ever get
divorced.
When we refer to ’marriage’ in this
brochure, we also mean a registered
partnership or (under certain
circumstances) a notarial cohabitation
contract recognized by PDN.
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If the form is sent in within the statutory
two-year period after the date of divorce,
the signature of one of the partners
suffices, provided the standard division
(50% / 50 %) is opted for. If the form is
submitted later than two years after the
date of divorce, it will still be processed
by PDN as long as both former partners
have signed it.
This holds only for divorces as from 1
January 2010. If you do not send this
form to PDN, the whole of your retirement
pension will be paid to you as of your
retirement date and you will then have to
transfer part of it to your former partner
each month.
Costs of arranging the distribution
of pension yourself
If you arrange the division of retirement
pension and any savings yourself, PDN
will need to make some calculations for
you. These calculations entail costs that
will be shared equally between the
former marriage partners. Upon payment
of the first benefit, the costs will be
deducted.
Retirement pension and divorce
A law passed on 1 May 1995 (Wet
verevening pensioenaanspraken bij (echt)
scheiding [Pension Entitlements
Settlement (Divorce) Act] determines how
the retirement pension should be
distributed on divorce. This relates only to
the distribution of the retirement pension
accrued during the marriage and not to
other pension components such as the
general state pension (AOW), annuities or
partner’s pension, which are regulated in
other laws.
If you or your former partner have
accrued retirement pension with more
than one pension fund, you should also
send a completed form ‘Notification of
divorce for the purpose of distribution of
retirement pension entitlement’ to these
or that pension fund(s) respectively.
After having sent the above form to PDN,
you will be notified within two months of
the amount of your share of the
retirement pension and the amount your
former partner will receive.
We will also inform your former partner
about his/her part.
What about your retirement pension when
you get divorced?
When you retire in the future, your former
partner is entitled to half of the retirement
pension that you accrued during the
marriage - called the ‘equalized pension’.
If your partner has accrued retirement
pension in his or her own right during your
marriage, you are also entitled to half of
that pension when your former partner
retires.
To ensure that PDN pays you the
retirement pension and your partner is
paid the equalized pension in future, you
must fill out and send in the form
‘Notification of divorce for the purpose of
distribution of retirement pension
entitlement’ [Mededeling van
echtscheiding in verband met verdeling
van ouderdomspensioen] .
You can request this form from the Dutch
Rijksoverheid (www.rijksoverheid.nl).
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Once the distribution of the retirement
pension has been established, the
amount of the equalized pension may still
increase over time, if the pension fund
decides to grant supplements (index) to
maintain the purchasing power of the
pension.
The equalized pension from your former
partner is going on when you retire. If you
decide to deviate from your retirement
date it will affect the height of your
retirement pension, as it will affect the
date and amount of the equalized pension
that your former partner will receive.
Example
Peter from the previous example is now a
bit older. When he is 70 years old, Marie
dies after having received an equalized
pension from PDN for five years. For
Peter, this means that his retirement
pension is increased by 7,500 euros
(gross) a year.
Divorce after retirement
A couple may also divorce after retirement
and in this case the law also prescribes
that the retirement pension accrued with
PDN during the marriage is distributed
equally between the partners.
Example
Peter and Marie get divorced. At that
time, Peter is 45 years old. Peter and
Marie have been married for 20 years.
Peter started working when he had been
married for five years, so during his
marriage he accrued 15 years of pension
with PDN. The accrued retirement
pension for that period is, for example
15,000 euros (gross). If Peter retires,
Marie will receive 7,500 euros (gross)
equalized pension a year. This amount
may be higher if PDN has granted
supplements in the intervening period.
Example
Jan and Inge get divorced when Jan is
70. From the time of his marriage until his
retirement Jan accrued 35 years of
retirement pension. His retirement
pension is therefore 35,000 euros (gross)
a year. After the divorce, both Inge and
Jan receive 17,500 euros (gross)
retirement pension from PDN.
Death Benefits
What happens if you or your former
partner die? If your former partner dies,
you will receive the full claim to the
retirement pension again. The (special)
partner’s pension entitlements which have
arisen following the divorce will expire. If
you die, your former partner will not
receive the equalized pension, but will
receive a special partner’s pension
instead (see chapter partner’s pension
and divorce).
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Re-marriage after a divorce
The capital that you have saved during
marriage under the pre-retirement
scheme should also be distributed
equally between you and your former
partner on divorce. The same applies if
you have accrued a pre-pension
entitlement (temporary retirement
If you re-marry after a divorce, your new
partner will, after divorcing from you in
years to come, be entitled to an equalized
pension accrued during the period your
second marriage lasted.
End of cohabitation
When your cohabitation agreement is
terminated, your former partner is entitled
to the special partner’s pension. Your
former partner is also entitled to equalized
pension, if this has been incorporated in
the agreement. If you end a partner
relationship, but there has not been any
cohabitation agreement, your former
partner is not entitled to any special
retirement pension or partner’s pension
from PDN
Net pension scheme
(NPS)
PDN’s Net Pension
Scheme (NPS) offers
opportunities to save for
extra pension for those
employees earning over €100,000 a year.
The NPS provides options for this
purpose. The scheme allows purchase of
pension entitlements with additional
pension capital. Any capital saved during
the marriage will be divided equally over
you and your partner. The same applies
for pension entitlements purchased under
the NPS scheme. The conditions and
detailed info can be found in the
dedicated brochure.
Retirement pension
The pension you are entitled to as of
your retirement date. You can opt to
draw the retirement pension earlier,
which will affect the amount of the
retirement pension.
Equalized pension
The part of the retirement pension to
which the former partner is entitled.
Payments to the former partner start after
you retire.
Pre-pension capital
A lot of employees have in the past been
offered the opportunity to make additional
savings in order to accrue a higher
pension or for early retirement. This
opportunity was offered under the preretirement scheme (see separate
brochure).
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Partner’s pension and divorce
Temporary and supplementary
partner’s pension
In addition to a retirement pension, you
also accrue a partner’s pension. If you
should die while still working, your partner
will receive 70% of the retirement pension
that you would have accrued with PDN if
you would have worked up to the general
state pension age. If you get divorced,
your former partner has a legal
entitlement to the partner’s pension that
you have accrued from your pension
participation up to the date of the divorce,
which is 70% of the retirement pension
accrued up to that date. This is what we
use to call the special partner’s pension.
A former partner who receives a special
partner’s pension may also receive a
‘special temporary partner’s pension’ until
he or she reaches the general state
pension age. The special temporary
partner’s pension is intended to
compensate for the higher deductions
until the former partner reaches his or her
pension age. The special temporary
partner’s pension amounts to 20 percent
of the special partner’s pension. After
divorce, a former partner is no longer
entitled to receive a supplementary
partner’s pension. The supplementary
partner’s pension is intended to
compensate for the fact that your partner
will not receive a general state pension
(AOW) until the pension age.
Example
Kees and Jolanda get divorced. At that
time Kees is 45 and has worked and
accrued pension for 15 years. The
pension accrued in 15 years entitles him,
for example, to an annual retirement
pension of €15,000 (gross). If Kees and
Jolanda live until Kees retires, Jolanda
will receive, from that time, €7,500
(gross) equalized pension from PDN.
However, if Kees dies before Jolanda,
Jolanda loses the right to an equalized
pension of €7,500 (gross). However, she
will then receive a special partner’s
pension entitlement of 70% of €15,000
(gross) or €10,500 (gross).
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Example
If Kees from the previous example dies
before his retirement date, Jolanda will
thus receive in addition to the special
partner’s pension of €10,500 (gross), a
temporary special partner’s pension of
€2,100 (gross) (i.e. 20% of €10,500) until
her general state pension age. However,
she will not receive a supplementary
partner’s pension.
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The phone number is 1400.
Partner’s pension
 If you and your partner are settling the
Pension payment to the partner upon
your death. The partner’s pension
amounts to 70% of the accrued
retirement pension. In the event of death
during active service of DSM, partners
receive a pension that equals 70% of the
retirement pension you would have
ultimately accrued with PDN as if you
would have worked until your state
pension age.
distribution of your pension
entitlements yourselves through a
notary or lawyer, you should send PDN
a copy of the agreements made,
together with the form ‘Notification of
divorce for the purpose of distribution
of retirement pension entitlement’.
Special partner’s pension
Conversion and divorce
Pension payment to your former partner
upon your death. The special partner’s
pension amounts to 70% of the
retirement pension you accrued up to the
date of divorce.
There is another option besides the legal
distribution of the retirement pension,
partner’s pension or pre-pension capital
described above: Pension conversion.
There is a significant difference between
conversion and the distribution option
referred to in this brochure. With
conversion, the part of the retirement
pension, special partner’s pension and
any pre-pension capital that goes to your
former partner becomes a separate
entitlement. The amounts you and your
former partner are entitled to make up, as
it were, two separate pension pots. After
conversion, you and your former partner
have no further dealings with each other
as far as pension is concerned. In the
non-application of conversion and upon
death of your former partner, you get back
your full retirement pension. After
conversion that is no longer possible.
Conversion offers your former partner the
chance to transfer the money set aside for
him or her on divorce to another pension
fund. He or she then has nothing more to
do with PDN. That too was impossible
with the distribution option described in
this brochure. Once you and your former
partner have decided on conversion the
decision is final, and once carried out,
conversion cannot be reversed.
Do you live abroad?
If you get divorced while you are living
abroad, you must notify PDN of this. If you
were married, then please send us a copy
of the divorce agreement. If you had a
registered partnership, then send a copy
of the dissolution contract. If you were
cohabiting and have duly notified PDN,
please send us a copy of the termination
agreement.
What pension-related action must
you take if you get divorced?
Pension-related actions are necessary
when you wish that the pension payment
to your former partner will be done by the
pension fund.
 You should notify PDN of the divorce
within two years after the date of
divorce using the form ‘Notification of
divorce for the purpose of distribution of
retirement pension entitlement’. This
form can be obtained directly from the
Dutch Rijksoverheid
(www.rijksoverheid.nl).
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After conversion, you and your former
partner receive a retirement pension from
your own pensionable age. Your former
partner is no longer dependent on the
retirement date for your pension.
2) The agreement for conversion must be
established in the pre-nuptial
agreement, the pre-partnership
agreement, the divorce agreement or
the cohabitation agreement.
Conversion is possible. It can only be
done
 on divorce,
 after dissolution of a marriage
following legal separation, so not on
legal separation,
 at the end of a registered partnership,
 on termination of a notarial
cohabitation contract.
3) One of the following documents must
be handed over to PDN:
 a certified copy of the pre-nuptial or
partnership agreement;
 a certified copy of an extract from the
pre-nuptial or partnership agreement;
 a certified copy of the divorce
agreement;
 a certified copy of a termination of a
cohabitation contract which includes
the choice of conversion;
 a certified copy of an extract of the
divorce agreement.
In all cases the conversion agreement
should be included in the contract drawn
up by a notary or lawyer.
Another condition for conversion is that
PDN gives its consent. PDN will give this
consent only if the following conditions are
met:
The extract or copy must be certified by a
lawyer, a notary, or by a foreign authority
that signs and/or stamps the document.
1) Both partners sign the form
‘Notification of divorce for the purpose
of distribution of retirement pension
entitlement’ and choose conversion
option on the form. You can obtain the
form from the Dutch Rijksoverheid
(www.rijksoverheid.nl). The phone
number is 1400. You must fill out and
return the form within two years after
your divorce.
More information
 Call the PDN Pension Desk for any questions about divorce and pensions during office
hours (045-5788100) or mail your specific question to [email protected].
 More information on this subject can be found at www.rijksoverheid.nl. Search for
‘familie en gezin’ [family], then click on ‘familie, jeugd en gezin’ en ‘scheiden’.
The phone number is 1400.
 The website www.pensioenkijker.nl also provides a lot of useful information.
 The Ministry of Justice provides information at www.justitie.nl. Click on ‘Familie en gezin’
and then on ‘Scheiding en alimentatie’ [divorce and maintenance].
 You can also visit the website www.vfas.nl of the Vereniging van Familierecht Advocaten
en scheidingsbemiddelaars (VFAS) [association of family lawyers and divorce
mediators].
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Martijn (45 years old) and his partner Natascha (42 years old) are going to divorce. They
have decided to share Martijn’s PDN pension entitlements by means of conversion. During
the time that he was married to Natascha, Martijn accrued entitlements for a retirement
pension worth €25,000. He also accrued €17,500 of entitlements for partner’s pension, and
entitlements worth €3,500 for temporary partner’s pension. (All are gross amounts per
year)
After conversion, Martijn’s and Natascha’s pension entitlements will be as follows:

From his retirement date to his death, Martijn will receive:
Retirement pension: €13,948.60 (gross per year)

From her retirement date to her death, Natascha will receive:
Retirement pension: €17,202.86 (gross per year)
If Martijn and Natascha had chosen equalization instead of conversion, then their pension
entitlements would be as follows:

From his retirement date to his death, Martijn will receive:
Retirement pension: €12,500 (gross per year)

From Martijn’s retirement date until he dies, Natascha will receive:
Special retirement pension: €12,500 (gross per year)
This benefit will end on Martijn’s death

If Martijn dies, Natascha will receive (until her death):
Special retirement pension: €17,500 (gross per year) and
until her (target) retirement age Temporary partner’s pension: €3,500 (gross per
year)
The differences in the entitlements after conversion or equalization are due to different
methods of calculating these entitlements. In the case of equalization, only Martijn’s life
(and death) is taken into account. With conversion, there is no longer this link to Martijn’s
life and Natascha receives her own rights.
(All amounts are gross per annum)
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Overview
You get divorced and
your former partner is
still living.
Your former partner
dies before you do.
You die after retirement,
your former partner is still
living.
Your former partner may
still receive a special
partner’s pension.
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Your former partner receives half of the
retirement pension accrued during the marriage.
The amount of equalized pension received by
your former partner is deducted from your
retirement pension.
Your retirement pension is increased with the
amount your former partner was entitled to.
Your former partner loses his or her share of the
equalized pension that was accrued during your
marriage.
You die before retirement:
Your former partner may become eligible for a
special partner’s pension.
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Contact
If you have any questions about your pension visit the website:
www.PDNpensioen.nl
or contact our Pension Desk:
tel. 045 - 5788100
or email: [email protected]
Regulations
Read more about divorce and pension in the pension regulations by
clicking on the icon.
Disclaimer
The information provided in this brochure by Stichting Pensioenfonds DSM Nederland, based in Heerlen (the pension fund) is
general, purely indicative and subject to change. It is intended only to provide members with a general view. The information
provided is assumed to be reliable, but is used entirely at the user’s risk. Neither the administrator (DSM Pension Services
B.V.), nor the pension fund accepts any liability for damage arising from errors or omissions in the information, or for damage
arising in connection with the use of, reliance on, or distribution of the information. Rights can be derived only from the
pension regulations applying to the member.
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