Your relationship ended
You and your partner have decided to split up
The end of a relationship represents a big change, one that often carries over to many other aspects of your life. For example, you might have to make arrangements about children, maintenance payments and child support, your home and how to divide your possessions. One element that is sometimes overlooked is the pension rights that you have both built up during your relationship.
Brochure
In this brochure you can read what the end of your relationship means for your pension.
The end of your relationship
If you and your partner decide to split up, this will impact your pension. Precisely how depends on your marital status: are you married, are you registered partners or are you simply living together?
Deregister your partner
If you were living together without being married, or if you live abroad, you are responsible for telling Philips Pensioenfonds to deregister your partner. You can do this by sending us a signed letter. You can send the letter by regular mail or upload it in MijnPPF.
If you are married or have a registerd partnership
If you are married and you divorce, your ex-partner is entitled to a share in the retirement pension rights that you have built up. If you die, your ex is also entitled to the survivor’s pension that you have accrued. Chapter 4 explains what other options are available to you and what you and your ex-partner should do if you prefer one of those arrangements.
In the eyes of the law, a registered partnership is the same as marriage.
Notification by lawyer or civil-law notary
If you were married or had a registered partnership and your divorce or the termination of your partnership has become official, your lawyer or civil-law notary will send the divorce decree to the municipal authorities where you were married. Those authorities will record the divorce in the municipal registers. Philips Pensioenfonds will then automatically be informed of your divorce or the termination.
Legal separation
If you and your partner decide to legally separate, in the eyes of the law you are still married: you are only living separately from your partner. In this situation too your ex-partner is entitled to a share in your retirement pension. Legal separation from bed and board does not have any implications for your survivor’s pension (at least not yet): this is only affected if and when the marriage is permanently ended.
Living together
If you were living together with an ex-partner who was registered with us, your pension will not be affected in quite the same way as it is if you were married. The law does not make any provision for dividing your retirement pension if you and your partner split up. However, you still have the option of dividing your retirement pension. If you lived together with your ex, he or she is entitled to the survivor’s pension that you have accrued.
Implications: retirement pension
Your divorce will impact your retirement pension. The rules for when and how your retirement pension must be shared are laid down by law. Read on to find out what this means.
What the law says
You and your ex-partner are both entitled to a share in your retirement pension. However, this only applies to the retirement pension rights that you built up while you were actually married. This is called ‘sharing’ or ‘dividing’, and is laid down in the Dutch Pension Rights Sharing (Divorce) Act (Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding). The scope of that law covers all divorces and terminations of registered partnerships after 1 May 1995. Read the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice’s booklet entitled Verdeling van ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding (‘retirement pension division upon divorce’) to find out everything that you need to know about that law. You can get your copy of that booklet (in Dutch) at www.rijksoverheid.nl.
No statutory arrangements about dividing your retirement pension
The law does not dictate how your retirement pension must be shared at the end of your relationship if you lived together without being married. However, you may decide for yourself to divide your retirement pension rights. You will need to come to an agreement with your ex-partner, and make your own arrangements to ensure that your ex is paid the appropriate share in your pension. Philips Pensioenfonds will not do this for you.
Standard division: down the middle
You and your ex-partner are each entitled to half the retirement pension rights that you built up while you were married (50/50): the standard division, which either you or your ex may request. Bear in mind that division is only possible if the value of your pension is greater than the minimum commutation value stipulated by law (gross value for 2023: € 594,76 per year). Alternative arrangements are possible.
Frequently asked questions about what ending your relationship means for your pension
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Wanneer ontvangt u informatie over de verdeling van het ouderdomspensioen?
U ontvangt een schriftelijke bevestiging van ons op het moment dat wij de verdeling hebben verwerkt. Daarin staat ook op hoeveel ouderdomspensioen uw ex-partner recht heeft.
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Wanneer ontvangt u in de toekomst informatie?
Bouwt u nog pensioen op bij Philips Pensioenfonds? Dan ontvangt u elk jaar een Uniform Pensioenoverzicht. Heeft u gekozen voor verdeling van uw ouderdoms-pensioen? Dan staat op het Uniform Pensioenoverzicht uw totale pensioen met daaronder vermeld welk deel daarvan voor uw ex-partner is.
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Wanneer ontvangt uw ex-partner informatie over de verdeling van het ouderdomspensioen?
Uw ex-partner ontvangt een schriftelijke bevestiging van ons, op het moment dat wij de verdeling hebben verwerkt. Daarin leest uw ex-partner wat de hoogte is van het ouderdomspensioen dat hij of zij ontvangt, vanaf het moment dat u met pensioen gaat.
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Wanneer ontvangt uw ex-partner in de toekomst informatie?
Heeft uw ex-partner recht op een bijzonder nabestaanden pensioen? Dan ontvangt uw ex-partner elke vijf jaar een Uniform Pensioenoverzicht. Daarop staat de actuele hoogte van het bijzonder nabestaanden-pensioen. Ontvangt uw ex-partner al pensioen? Dan ontvangt hij of zij elk jaar het pensioenoverzicht.
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Vanaf wanneer betalen wij het verdeelde pensioen?
Vanaf het moment dat u met pensioen gaat, betalen wij het verdeelde ouderdomspensioen uit. Kiest u ervoor om uw pensioen eerder of later te laten ingaan? Dan geldt dat moment ook automatisch voor het ouderdomspensioen van uw ex-partner. Bent u al met pensioen? Dan ontvangt uw ex-partner voor het eerst zijn of haar pensioen twee maanden nadat wij de melding van de beëindiging van de relatie hebben ontvangen.
Action point
If you prefer to have us pay your ex-partner his or her share in your retirement pension directly, we need to know within two years after your divorce. Fill out the form ‘Mededelingsformulier in verband met verdeling van ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding’ (‘Notice of divorce for purposes of retirement pension division’), which you will find at www.rijksoverheid.nl. If you opt for the standard division (50/50), only one of you needs to sign the form. If we do not receive that form within two years, we will only pay a pension to you as a participant. It will be your own responsibility to arrange for your ex to receive his or her share in your retirement pension.
Implications: survivor’s pension
If you and your partner decide to split up, your ex will still be entitled to a survivor’s pension. This is called an ‘extraordinary survivor’s pension’, and will be paid to your ex-partner when you die.
Vragen over het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen
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Op welk bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen heeft uw ex-partner recht?
Uw ex-partner heeft recht op het nabestaandenpensioen dat u vóór en tijdens uw relatie heeft opgebouwd.
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Gaat u een tweede keer scheiden?
Bent u tijdens uw dienstverband bij uw werkgever al eerder gescheiden? Dan hebben we mogelijk voor uw eerste ex-partner al een bijzonder nabestaanden pensioen vastgesteld. Het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen voor uw tweede ex-partner bestaat uit het nabestaanden-pensioen dat u heeft opgebouwd vanaf de eerste scheidingsdatum tot de tweede scheidingsdatum.
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Wilt u het anders regelen?
Uw ex-partner kan afstand doen van het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen. Misschien omdat uw ex-partner zelf voldoende (pensioen)inkomen heeft. In de sectie 'Andere afspraken' leest u wat u en uw ex-partner moeten doen als uw ex-partner afstand wil doen van het nabestaandenpensioen.
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Vanaf wanneer betalen wij het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen aan uw ex-partner?
Wij betalen het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen aan uw ex-partner vanaf het moment dat u overlijdt. Uw ex- partner ontvangt het bijzonder nabestaanden-pensioen totdat hij of zij zelf overlijdt.
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Overlijdt uw ex-partner en bent u nog niet met pensioen?
Als uw ex-partner overlijdt en u nog niet met pensioen bent, dan wordt het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen van uw overleden ex-partner weer toegevoegd aan uw opgebouwde nabestaandenpensioen. Uw even-tuele nieuwe partner heeft dan recht op een hoger nabestaanden pensioen. Heeft u geen nieuwe partner? Dan kunt u, als u met pensioen gaat, het nabestaanden-pensioen inruilen voor een hoger ouderdomspensioen. Overlijdt uw ex-partner en bent u al met pensioen? Dan komt het bijzonder nabestaandenpensioen te vervallen.
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Heeft u een Anw-hiaatverzekering afgesloten bij Philips Pensioenfonds?
De Anw-hiaatverzekering stopt automatisch, als wij te horen krijgen dat uw relatie is beëindigd. Als u overlijdt, is er geen uitkering vanuit deze verzekering voor uw ex-partner.
Alternative arrangements
The previous chapters in this booklet explain the standard arrangements for your pension if your relationship ends. However, you may also make alternative arrangements concerning your pension. Bear in mind that you will need to record them before the end of your relationship is finalized. Read on to find out what other arrangements you can make.
Non-standard division of retirement pension rights: different shares for each partner
You and your ex-partner are not required to divide your retirement pension according to the standard arrangement. For example, you might agree that you keep 60% and your ex gets 40%. These arrangements should be recorded in your divorce agreement or partnership termination agreement. If you want us to process these arrangements in our records, send us a copy of the form ‘Mededelingsformulier in verband met verdeling van ouderdomspensioen bij scheiding’ (‘Notice of divorce for purposes of retirement pension division’) bearing both your own signature and your ex’s. You must also send us a copy of the document in which the nonstandard division is recorded.
No division of retirement pension: your pension stays with you
If you and your ex decide not to divide your retirement pension, the entire value will remain with you. This arrangement should be recorded in the divorce agreement or partnership termination agreement, of which we will need a copy.
Conversion: a separate pension for your ex
You may also choose an arrangement in which a separate pension is set up for your ex-partner. This is known as conversion: you and your ex decide separately when you want your respective pensions to start paying out. Your ex no longer has to rely on when you retire. Conversion is exactly what it sounds like: we calculate your retirement pensions using the standard division (half each) or any other arrangement that you choose, and your ex’s share is then converted into a separate retirement pension. That pension starts paying out to your ex as soon as he or she reaches retirement age based on the rules of your pension plan. The extraordinary survivor’s pension to which your ex-partner is entitled, is included in the conversion, and becomes additional retirement pension for your ex. After the conversion, your former partner will also have the option of transferring the pension to his or her own pension administrator. This is known as a value transfer.
Waiver of extraordinary survivor’s pension
Your ex-partner may waive his or her entitlement to an extraordinary survivor’s pension. You can record this decision in your divorce agreement or partnership termination agreement. Alternatively, a provision to that effect might already have been included in your prenuptial or partnership agreement when your relationship started. If your ex decides to waive his or her entitlement to an extraordinary survivor’s pension, you should send us a copy of the relevant document.
Action required
If your ex-partner decides to waive his or her entitlement to an extraordinary survivor’s pension, we need to know within two years after the date of your divorce. Send us a copy of the authenticated document recording that decision. Alternatively, you can notify us of the decision, after which you and your ex both sign the waiver and return it to us.
New relationship
If you marry or enter into a registered partnership.
MijnPPF
Firstly, it is good to know that you can view your personal pension data in MijnPPF. You can also submit changes to it.