A woman was able to recognize her widowhood pension, but she will not be able to receive her because she was entitled to a reform pension of 1,915 euros a month. The case was decided by the Basque Superior Court of Justice, which confirmed the interpretation of Spanish Social Security: in divorces that occurred before 2008, the widowhood pension can only be attributed if the beneficiary has no other public pension in force.
According to the news work, Spanish digital media, which specializes in employment topics and labor legislation, the situation goes back to the marriage of Lourdes, celebrated in 1974 and dissolved in 1994 by divorce.
The case resulted only an obligation to install for the children, but without compensatory pension in favor of the ex-wife.
In 2016, Lourdes began to receive his renovation pension, with a monthly value of 1,915 euros. Years later, in 2023, with the death of his ex-husband, he decided to apply for a widowk pension, but the request was refused.
The law that generates the incompatibility
According to the same source, the refusal is based on the transitional provision 13 of the General Law of Social Security. This standard provides that, in cases of divorces prior to 2008, the widowhood pension is attributed only if the person does not receive any other public pension.
Since Lourdes already received an old age pension, that of widowhood, even formally recognized, could not translate into economic effects.
The court also pointed out that, between divorce (1994) and the death of the ex-husband (2023), almost three decades took place, far exceeding the time limit of ten years that the law requires to maintain this right.
Recognition without practical effects
The sentence thus confirmed the position of social security. Lourdes met two of the requirements (being over 65 and being married for over 15 years), but failed in the third: no other active public pension. The result is a paradoxical situation: law has been recognized, but without any practical effect on monthly income.
The news works stresses that the value of the reform pension was already higher than what would be attributed by the widowhood pension, which made the decision even clearer.
In this case, the court has determined that the beneficiary will continue to receive only the reform of 1,915 euros, with the pension of widowhood without economic effect.
A case that raises questions
Although this decision falls into Spanish legislation, it shows how crossing transient norms can create situations of apparent contradiction: a recognized right that, however, does not translate into any financial benefit.
The case also serves as a warning to other pensioners under similar conditions: having the right to more than one pension does not automatically mean to be able to accumulate values.
The law provides for very specific compatibility rules and, when these are not fulfilled, recognition of law can be only on paper.
And in Portugal?
In the Portuguese case, the rules differ. According to national legislation, the survival pension (equivalent to widowhood) may accumulate with other income or pensions, including old age, provided that the limits provided for in Decree-Law No. 322/90 and Law No. 7/2001.
Accumulation is not only allowed in very specific situations, such as when the deceased did not have sufficient social security discounts or when the beneficiary does not meet the minimum marriage or de facto union requirements (usually one year, except situations of common children).
In addition, the value of the survival pension may be reduced or subject to conditions if there is accumulation with other high income, but is never automatically excluded because there is already an active old age pension.
In Portugal, contrary to what happened in this Spanish case, the rule is not incompatibility, but the articulation between installments, which means that pensioners can, in many cases, receive both supports, even if subject to legal limits and conditions.
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