Partner pension
Pension for after your death
The first important definition to make is the concept of ‘partner’.
The rules specify the following criteria.
A partner is:
- your spouse;
- your registered civil partner;
- your unmarried partner with whom you cohabit.
Cohabitation must either be documented in a cohabitation contract that has been drawn up in the presence of a notary, or you must have been registered at the same home address for at least five years and be able to prove that you have had a duty of care towards one another for that entire period. You may not be a direct member of this person’s family.
Please note: Your partner is entitled to a partner’s pension only if before retiring you were married, had a registered partnership,
or concluded a cohabitation agreement.
Please note: If your partner is more than 10 years your junior, the annual partner pension will be reduced by 2.5% for every full year that the age difference is greater than 10 years.
Please note: Are you divorced when you pass away? Your ex-partner may still be entitled to a pension payment through Robeco Pension Fund. They are legally entitled to the portion of the partner pension accumulated up to the date of divorce. Read on.
Basic scheme
Your partner has the assurance of a partner pension under the basic scheme. In addition to this, your partner may be entitled to an extra partner pension under the top-up scheme. The partner pension takes effect on the first day of the month following your death and is paid out for as long as your partner lives. If you should die before you retire, what counts is whether you were still employed by Robeco at that point in time. This is illustrated in a number of examples set out below.
Top-up scheme
If you participate in the top-up scheme and die while still employed at Robeco, the ERP capital (top-up capital and the extra retirement pension based on the transitional pre-pension scheme) which is converted into an immediately effective partner pension will be supplemented with an extra pension on top of this.
The extra pension is calculated as follows:
Number of years until you are 67 x 1.621% (standard accrual)
x 70% (partner portion of your retirement pension)
x top-up income (your income above the upper limit of salary scale 100).