Woman gets widow’s pension without being in a civil union: court confirmed and this was the reason

In Spain, a woman managed to get her widow’s pension recognized despite not being formally registered as a de facto partner of the man she had lived with for almost two decades. The decision, handed down by the Sala de lo Social of the Superior Court of Justice of Murcia (TSJ of Murcia), contradicts the usual practice of Spanish Social Security, which requires that the ‘pareja de hecho’ be registered for at least two years before death.

According to the Consejo General del Poder Judicial (CGPJ), the case was considered exceptional due to the circumstances in which the partner’s death occurred and the consistent proof of a stable relationship. The Noticias Trabajo portal reported the sentence as an example of a more flexible interpretation of the law in very specific situations.

The pension had initially been refused by the National Social Security Institute (INSS). According to official communication and the Spanish press, the entity justified the refusal based on non-compliance with the formal requirement that requires the union to be registered as ‘pareja de hecho’, at least two years before death. In practice, this rule is strictly applied and has led to the refusal of many pension applications. The applicant decided to appeal and the case reached the Superior Court of Justice of Murcia.

Why did they reject the request at first?

The Provincial Directorate of Social Security maintained that, as the relationship was not registered as ‘pareja de hecho’ with the required advance notice, it could not recognize the right to a widow’s pension. This requirement, formal registration of the union for at least two years before death, in addition to five years of cohabitation, is often highlighted by jurists as one of the strictest aspects of the Spanish regime, justified by the prevention of fraud and the need to prove the stability of the relationship.

As a rule, the lack of registration is enough to make access to the pension unfeasible, even in cases of long-term cohabitation, which has led to criticism due to the excessive weight given to the form to the detriment of family reality.

However, the judges decided, in this case, to look at the concrete context. The partner’s death occurred by suicide, something that the judges considered relevant to assess how the full formalization of the union was prevented by a tragic and unexpected outcome, beyond the woman’s control.

What led the court to accept the appeal

According to the General Council of the Judiciary, the sentence valued three central elements: living together for more than eighteen years, the existence of two children in common and the unequivocal desire to formalize the union. The decision also highlights that the couple had submitted the application for registration as ‘pareja de hecho’ two and a half months before their death, but the Administration did not complete the registration, which demonstrated the intention to make the situation official and the impact of the administrative delay on the outcome.

The judges also resorted to an interpretation of the norm with a gender perspective and invoked the protection of the family provided for in article 39 of the Spanish Constitution, following the line of decisions of the Supreme Court in cases of victims of gender-based violence. This is an exceptional route, reserved for situations of special vulnerability in which the strict application of the law could lead to manifest injustice.

Decision is not final: there may be an appeal

The pension was awarded on a regulatory basis of 1,665 euros per month. However, the Consejo General del Poder Judicial emphasizes that the decision has not yet become final. Spanish Social Security may appeal to the Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the case.

Until then, the sentence remains a rare example of flexibility in the law, showing that, in very specific circumstances, the absence of formal registration does not prevent the recognition of the relationship and associated rights.

And in Portugal, would a similar decision be possible?

In the Portuguese case, the granting of the survivor’s pension (contributory scheme) follows different rules to those in Spain. Law No. 7/2001, which regulates de facto unions, defines it as the situation of two people living in conditions similar to those of their spouses for more than two years, without requiring mandatory central registration.

For the surviving member to be entitled to death benefits, Social Security requires that they prove, through documents and/or witnesses, that they lived in a de facto union with the deceased under these conditions for at least two years before the death. Normally, this proof is provided through a declaration from the parish council, complemented by other evidence of cohabitation and common life.

According to national legislation, formal registration of the union is not mandatory, but effective proof of common life is decisive for the recognition of the right. In Portugal, there is no news of decisions granting a pension in the absence of minimum proof of cohabitation, although the courts allow different means of demonstration, which makes the evidentiary process, in the abstract, more flexible than in Spain, where prior registration of the ‘pareja de hecho’ has historically been treated as an essential formal condition.

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