In October 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in favor of a widower from Appenzell-Ausserrhoden and reprimanded Switzerland for gender discrimination. Switzerland referred the decision to the Grand Chamber. She has since confirmed the verdict.
All stakeholders should be aware that widowers cannot receive the same survivor benefits as widows. However, it may seem strange to many that not only childless widows, but even divorced widows, are entitled to a pension in the event of the death of their ex-husband, namely from the 1st pillar, AHV, and sometimes from the 2nd pillar, pensions. fund.
First about AHV: A divorced woman whose ex-husband has died is entitled to a widow’s pension from AHV, …
…if she has children and divorced for at least 10 years, or
… if at the time of the divorce she was over 45 years old and the divorced marriage had lasted at least 10 years, or
…when the youngest child turns 18 after the divorced mother turns 45.
If a divorced woman does not meet any of these conditions, she is entitled to a widow’s pension until the youngest child reaches 18 years of age.
However, there may be money from the 2nd pillar, the pension fund. This can be annoying since the assets of the pension fund were divided in the divorce.
Provided that the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the divorced spouse at the time of the divorce received a civil pension, that is, alimony. The right to receive a survivor’s pension from the pension fund exists only as long as maintenance is paid.
Thus, in the event of the death of a divorced father of two dependent children, the mother of these children can receive six pensions: one widow’s pension and two children’s pensions from the 1st and 2nd pillars. If you add up all the pensions, then the amount should be higher than the alimony. In such cases, pension institutions could reduce survivor benefits accordingly so that a divorced woman does not receive more than her ex-husband did during her lifetime.
This was not always the case: I know of a case where a school-age mother of two, after the death of her ex-husband, booked a higher retirement income for herself and her children than she previously received as alimony. Cynically speaking: the death of her ex-husband was financially beneficial for her. (This does not mean that she was happy about it. She was not very comfortable).
Needless to say, divorced widowers are at a disadvantage compared to divorced widows.