Unbelievable - Oh wait, its Germany, Yeah it is!
A German court has told a man that the pension he used to share with his ex-wife must now be shared with her widowed husband. Bernhard Wanwitz, a judge at the administrative court in the western city of Mainz, said the man withdrew an appeal to keep his entire pension when the court said the widower was entitled to a share of his late wife’s divorce settlement. Under German law, when a couple divorces, the ex-spouse with the smaller pension has a right to top-up payments from the other’s pension. After the woman died, her new husband inherited her pension and then exercised his right to collect the money. The retired civil servant will now have to pay around 700 euros ($785) of his pension each month to the widower. "This is the first time I can recall a case like this," said Wanwitz. |