Divorce of a pensioner
All rules and regulations apply equally to registered partnerships.
If you and your spouse divorce after you retire, the retirement benefits accumulated during the marriage must be split equitably between you and your spouse.
If you draw a retirement pension, your retirement assets will be shared by each spouse receiving a portion of the pension benefits. Upon request, the Pension Fund Swiss Re will provide the competent Swiss court with the input required to calculate the divorce offset split (Vorsorgeausgleich).
However, if you have already drawn your retirement benefits as a lump sum payment, the Pension Fund Swiss Re will not be involved in the pension split process. Instead, the court will resolve the matter in accordance with the Swiss Civil Code.
As part of the divorce settlement, the court will then determine if and how the retirement benefits must be split. Based on the principle of equitable offset, the court will decide whether you are the beneficiary spouse (ie you will receive a portion of your spouse's retirement benefits) or the obligated spouse (ie you will cede a portion of your retirement benefits to your spouse).
By law, the Pension Fund Swiss Re is authorised to act only in accordance with divorce offset rulings by Swiss courts.
In its final ruling, the court will notify the obligated spouse's pension fund of the details of the divorce offset ruling.
The retirement pension of the obligated spouse will be reduced permanently by the portion determined by the court. If the beneficiary spouse is also retired, or at least 58 years of age, and does not belong to a pension fund, he/she will receive a lifelong divorced person's pension (Scheidungsrente). In all other cases, the divorced person's pension will either be paid out to the pension fund of the beneficiary spouse or transferred to a vested benefits account.
The pension conversion calculation is performed using the online calculator provided on the Federal Social Insurance Office (BSV) website.
The divorced person's pension is adjusted for the statistical life expectancy of the beneficiary spouse's sex and age and therefore will not match the amount deducted from the obligated spouse's retirement pension.
The divorced person's pension will be paid by the Pension Fund Swiss Re for life.
If the beneficiary spouse is still gainfully employed, the portion of the retirement pension awarded by the court is transferred annually to that spouse's pension fund. Alternatively, the beneficiary spouse may request a lump-sum capital payment from the Pension Fund Swiss Re, which will be transferred to the beneficiary spouse's pension fund.
If you are the beneficiary spouse in the divorce offset ruling and you are already retired, the obligated spouse's pension fund will pay your divorced person's pension directly into your personal bank account. If you are still working, your divorced person's pension will be transferred annually to your pension fund until you retire. After retirement, you will receive your monthly divorced person's pension paid directly into your personal bank account.