On divorce in the Netherlands, each spouse is entitled by law to half of the occupational old-age pension the other built up during the marriage or registered partnership. The main exception: the provider only pays that share to you directly if the divorce is reported within two years; after that you have to collect it from your former partner yourself. Below you will find what is divided and what is not, the choice between equalisation and conversion, the special partner’s pension, and how to meet the deadline.
The rules are in the Pension Rights Equalisation Act (Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding, Wet VPS), in force since 1 May 1995. The right arises automatically. Missing the two-year period does not end it, but it does make it much harder to enforce.
Pension is often the second-largest asset in a divorce after the family home. It is also the one most often overlooked, because nothing is paid out at the time of the divorce and the consequences only show decades later. The partner who worked part-time or not at all is the one who bears that cost.
Which pension is divided, and which is not?
The Wet VPS divides the old-age pension (ouderdomspensioen) built up through an employer’s scheme or a professional pension fund during the marriage. The state pension, private annuities and pension built up before or after the marriage are not divided under the Act.
This is second-pillar pension: pension accrued through work. Only the part built up during the marriage or registered partnership is divided. The period ends on the date of the divorce, which is the date the divorce is registered in the civil status register. What either partner built up before the marriage or after that date stays with that partner.
Is the state pension (AOW) divided?
No. The AOW is a personal entitlement, built up by living in the Netherlands, and it is never divided.
Each resident builds up a fixed percentage for each year of residence between the age of fifteen and the state pension age. After the divorce, each former partner receives the higher rate for single people instead of the lower rate for people who share a household. For both of you, that is a real improvement in income.
What about annuities and other private pension products?
Third-pillar products, such as an annuity policy (lijfrente) or a bank savings pension, fall outside the Wet VPS. They are ordinary assets and follow your matrimonial property regime.
They are divided if they fall within the community of property, or settled under a set-off clause in a prenuptial agreement. Since 1 January 2018, marriages are by default subject to the limited community of property, which changes what falls into the shared pot. Our article on the limited community of property explains that regime.
What if the pension is held in your own company?
Pension built up by a director-major shareholder (dga) in the company’s own books raises separate questions. The value has to be established, and the company must be able to bear the split. That situation always needs advice, and usually an actuarial valuation.
Does the Act apply to unmarried couples?
No. Cohabiting partners have no statutory right to equalisation, even with a notarial cohabitation contract.
What they can have is a special partner’s pension, if the scheme recognises the partner and the partner was registered with the provider. Anything else must be agreed in a contract. The position when a registered partnership ends is different again. It is covered in our article on ending a registered partnership.
Should you choose equalisation or conversion?
Equalisation is the statutory default and suits most ordinary cases. Conversion gives a clean break, but it is final and needs the consent of both of you and of the pension provider.
How does equalisation work?
With equalisation (verevening), you acquire a right to payment of half of the old-age pension built up during the marriage. The pension itself stays with the partner who built it up.
Payment starts when that partner retires, follows his or her pension, and ends when that partner dies. You therefore remain tied to the other’s choices and to the other’s lifespan.
How does conversion work?
With conversion (conversie), your share of the old-age pension, together with the special partner’s pension, becomes an independent pension entitlement in your own name.
From then on, the two entitlements have nothing to do with each other. You decide when your pension starts, within the scheme’s rules. And your entitlement is not lost if your former partner dies first.
| Point of comparison | Equalisation | Conversion |
|---|---|---|
| Applies | Automatically, unless excluded | Only if expressly agreed |
| Consent needed | None | Both former partners and the pension provider |
| Start of payment | When the partner who built up the pension retires | When the other partner chooses, within the scheme rules |
| If the partner who built up the pension dies first | The equalised payment stops; the special partner’s pension takes over | The entitlement is unaffected |
| Reversible | Yes, by agreement before payment starts | No, conversion is final |
Conversion is attractive if you want a clean break, if there is a large age difference, or if one of you does not want his or her income to depend on the other’s retirement date. It cannot be undone, and not every provider is willing to cooperate. Equalisation is simpler, costs nothing and remains the right choice in most ordinary cases.
Can you agree something different?
Yes. In a prenuptial agreement or in the divorce settlement (echtscheidingsconvenant), you can agree a different split, exclude equalisation altogether, or offset the pension against other assets.
A common example is offsetting the pension against the equity in the house. The agreement must be in writing. Where a departure from the statutory rule affects the provider, the provider must be notified. Excluding equalisation is a serious decision. Only make it once both of you know, in figures, what you are giving up.
What happens to the partner’s pension?
Your former partner keeps the partner’s pension built up until the divorce, as a special partner’s pension (bijzonder partnerpensioen). That is a separate right from the equalised old-age pension.
The partner’s pension is paid to the surviving partner after the death of the scheme member. On divorce, the former partner keeps the part built up until the date of the divorce, under Article 57 of the Pensions Act (Pensioenwet). That entitlement belongs to the former partner even after remarriage. It is paid when the member dies, whenever that happens.
When is there no special partner’s pension?
When the scheme insures the partner’s pension on a risk basis (risicobasis). Then nothing is built up, and the former partner receives nothing after the divorce.
On a risk basis, the cover simply ends when the marriage, the employment or the membership ends. Whether a scheme builds up or insures the partner’s pension is stated in the scheme rules. It is one of the first things to check.
The former partner may also waive the special partner’s pension. It then usually goes back to the member and can be used for a new partner. That decision is worth putting a price on rather than simply conceding it. For a partner with little pension of his or her own, it can be the only cover there is.
How do you meet the two-year deadline?
Send the statutory notification form to every pension provider within two years after the divorce. The provider then pays the equalised part directly to the former partner.
This is the single most important practical rule. If you report the divorce later, the provider is no longer obliged to pay you directly. The right itself does not disappear. But you then have to claim your share from your former partner, year after year, once the pension starts. That is exactly the dependency the Act was designed to remove.
What are the steps?
Map every entitlement, agree the route in figures, notify each provider separately and ask for written confirmation.
- Request statements from all current and former employers’ schemes. Use the national pension register (mijnpensioenoverzicht.nl) to trace forgotten schemes, which happens often after several job changes.
- Establish, for each scheme, what was built up between the wedding date and the date of the divorce.
- Record the chosen route, equalisation, conversion or a different arrangement, in the divorce settlement, in figures rather than principles.
- Send the notification form, with a copy of the settlement, to every provider separately, and ask each one to confirm in writing that the division has been registered.
Providers make mistakes, and the mistake usually surfaces on the day the first payment is due. A short check a few months later, and again when either of you changes jobs, is worth the effort.
There is also a rule for small pensions. Under Article 3(3) of the Wet VPS, a pension below the statutory threshold for commuting small pensions does not have to be equalised. That threshold is adjusted every year and published by the government.
What if the two years have already passed?
Your position is not hopeless. The entitlement remains, and you can enforce it against your former partner directly.
What you need is a clear written record of the entitlement and, if possible, a payment arrangement or an agreement to convert. Some providers will still cooperate voluntarily when both former partners ask together. That is always worth trying before going to court.
Which rules apply to older divorces?
That depends on the date of the divorce. The Wet VPS applies to divorces from 1 May 1995; for earlier divorces an older regime applies.
This still matters in practice, because the people concerned are only now reaching retirement. For divorces between 27 November 1981 and 30 April 1995, the Supreme Court judgment Boon/Van Loon (HR 27 November 1981, ECLI:NL:HR:1981:AG4271) applies.
| Date of divorce | Applicable regime | Old-age pension | Partner’s pension |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 27 November 1981 | As a rule, no division of pension | An entitlement only in exceptional circumstances | No general entitlement |
| 27 November 1981 to 30 April 1995 | Supreme Court judgment Boon/Van Loon | Settled as part of the community of property, on the basis of value | No separate statutory rule |
| From 1 May 1995 | Wet VPS | Half of the pension built up during the marriage, paid directly by the provider if reported in time | Special partner’s pension, now under Article 57 of the Pensions Act |
Will the rules change?
Possibly, but not yet. A bill to replace the Wet VPS has been pending since 2019 and has not been adopted.
The Pension Division on Divorce Act 2022 (Wet pensioenverdeling bij scheiding 2022, bill 35287) was submitted to the House of Representatives on 16 September 2019. It would make conversion the default. Providers would act on the divorce data they receive from the population register, so the notification form would no longer be needed. The bill is still before the House of Representatives; neither chamber has adopted it, and its entry into force is left to a royal decree. Until then, the Wet VPS described above is the law, and the two-year notification remains essential.
Which mistakes cost the most?
Reporting the divorce too late is the most common mistake, and the easiest to avoid. The form should go out with the settlement, not months afterwards.
The second mistake is forgetting a scheme. Someone who worked for five employers may have five entitlements, some of them small and none of them front of mind. The national pension register shows what is registered against your citizen service number (BSN). It is the fastest way to find them.
The third is trading away the pension for something visible. Giving up your pension share in exchange for staying in the house feels concrete. Often it is not a good deal: the pension may be worth more than the equity once it is valued properly. Have both valued before you agree to offset one against the other.
The fourth is ignoring the partner’s pension. Some people assume it disappears on divorce, when it usually does not. Others assume it exists, when the scheme insures it on a risk basis and it does not. The fifth is failing to arrange cover for a new partner, because the special partner’s pension for the former spouse reduces what is left for anyone who comes after. The sixth is writing the settlement in words rather than numbers. That produces a dispute on the day the first payment is calculated.
In summary
- Under the Wet VPS, each spouse is entitled to half of the occupational old-age pension the other built up during the marriage.
- The AOW, annuities and pension built up outside the marriage are not divided under the Act.
- Report the divorce to every pension provider within two years, or you will have to collect your share from your former partner yourself.
- Equalisation is the default; conversion gives a clean break but needs everyone’s consent and cannot be undone.
- Check whether the partner’s pension is built up or insured on a risk basis, and agree everything in figures.
Frequently asked questions
Is the state pension divided on divorce?
No. The AOW is a personal entitlement based on years of residence in the Netherlands and is never divided between former partners. After the divorce, each of you receives the rate for single people, which is higher than the rate for people who share a household.
What happens if I report the divorce after two years?
You keep your statutory entitlement, but the pension provider no longer has to pay you directly. You then have to recover your share from your former partner once his or her pension starts. That is why the deadline matters far more than it seems.
Can we agree not to divide the pension?
Yes. You can exclude or vary equalisation in a prenuptial agreement or in the divorce settlement, as long as the agreement is in writing. Do it with figures in front of you. Waiving a share of a well-funded scheme can be worth more than the rest of the settlement combined.
Does pension division apply to cohabitants?
No. The Wet VPS only applies to marriage and registered partnership. Cohabitants can arrange something by contract, and a partner registered with the scheme may qualify for a special partner’s pension. But there is no statutory right to equalisation of the old-age pension.
What if my former partner lives abroad?
Where either of you lives does not affect the entitlement. A Dutch provider will pay into a foreign account. If the pension itself was built up abroad, whether it can be divided depends on the law that governs that scheme. Cross-border cases need advice on which law applies to the divorce and to the pension.
When does the payment actually start?
With equalisation, when the former partner who built up the pension retires, not when you retire. With conversion, when you choose to start your own entitlement within the rules of the scheme. Neither is linked to the state pension age as such, although most schemes are built around it.
How can we help with pension and divorce?
Pension is the part of a divorce where a decision taken in an afternoon decides an income thirty years later. Two questions are worth answering before you sign anything: what is each scheme actually worth, and does equalisation or conversion suit your situation? Both can be answered, and both are cheaper to answer now than to argue about later.
Law & More advises and represents clients in divorce and separation, including the division of pension, the divorce settlement, matrimonial property and maintenance. We work in English and Dutch and act for Dutch and international clients. Read further in our family law guides and on our family law page. Our overview of the cost of a divorce in the Netherlands sets out what to expect financially. Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.
How Law & More can help you with this is explained on our divorce lawyer page.
