As of: January 30, 2024, 4:45 a.m
By: Felix Herz
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A pensioner in Bavaria has to pay pension compensation - to her deceased husband's ex-wife.
(Symbolic image) © Eibner / IMAGO
Gabriele Greif was married to her Manfred for 30 years.
Her husband's first marriage now has an expensive aftermath for the pensioner.
Velburg – It sounds so strange that the story has to be true.
And it is, reminding us of the often criticized bureaucratic madness in Germany.
Gabriele Reif from Upper Palatinate is a pensioner and widow - and has had to pay an expensive pension settlement for months.
Namely to the deceased ex-wife of her husband, who also died.
The BR program “quer” reported on this on Thursday, January 25th.
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Pensioner has to pay pension compensation - to her deceased husband's ex-wife
“He won the lottery,” says Gabriele Greif in the “quer” program about her husband Manfred, to whom she was married for 30 years.
Manfred died three years ago.
And Gabriele left an inheritance that, in addition to the widow's pension and car, also includes pension compensation - which she has to pay.
Namely to her late husband's ex-wife.
Who is also no longer among the living.
Gabriele from Velburg is unsurprisingly annoyed by the at least strange obligation to pay her deceased ex-wife.
She has to pay a little more than 137 euros per month.
“quer” explains the background: Manfred was married to another woman before he married Gabriele.
When this first marriage was divorced, a pension settlement was agreed.
Pension equalization – what is it?
“The pension equalization serves to fairly divide the rights acquired by both spouses during the marriage to pensions due to old age or disability in the context of the divorce,” explains the Federal Ministry of Law and Justice.
The pension equalization ensures that the life benefits provided - and shared - during the marriage are fairly divided in the event of a divorce.
The entitlements can arise from various pension systems - for example from "statutory pension insurance, civil servants' pensions or a company or private pension scheme at home or abroad," explains the ministry.
The background to the whole thing is, above all, to ensure justice if one partner in a marriage has worked less, for example to look after the children.
This partner would then have paid less money into their own pension fund and, in the event of a divorce, would subsequently suffer greatly financially from the partnership's division of labor.
The pension equalization is intended to counteract this situation.
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Inherited pension equalization, but no right to apply - the state gets the money
To compensate for lost pension rights, Manfred had to make payments to his ex-wife when he retired as part of the pension equalization.
She explains “laterally” that after Manfred’s death, Gabriele would have to pay as heiress for her husband’s ex-wife.
But things turned out differently: his first wife died before Manfred's death.
So he applied to no longer have to make the pension equalization payments.
With success – he was able to stop making payments and received his full pension.
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But then Manfred died - and Gabriele inherited the pension settlement.
Like Manfred, she applied to no longer have to do this, Manfred's ex-wife is already dead. But this was rejected.
Her lawsuit was also dismissed.
The incredible reason: Manfred passed on the pension equalization to his Gabriele by law - but not the right to apply to no longer have to pay this equalization.
The money that Gabriele continues to pay for her ex-wife goes to the state.
This is actually the right thing to do, explains an expert at “quer”.
It is actually the case that the state then makes money from deceased spouses.
But the lawyer hopes to be able to help Gabriele.
She finally declares that she wants to continue fighting.
Because: “If you don’t fight, you’ve already lost anyway.”
(fhz)
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