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25 AVRIL 2014. - An Act to Reform the Survival Pension of Independent Workers (1)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
CHAPTER 1^er. - Introductory provision
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
CHAPTER 2. - Amendments to Royal Decree No. 72 of 10 November 1967 relating to the retirement and survival pension of independent workers
Art. 2. In article 4 of Royal Decree No. 72 of 10 November 1967 concerning the retirement and survival pension of self-employed persons, last amended by the Act of 25 January 1999, the following amendments are made:
1° § 1^er, is replaced by the following:
"To be eligible for survival pension, the surviving spouse must meet the following conditions:
1° having been married at least one year with the deceased independent worker or having been married less than a year with the deceased independent worker with whom he had previously legally cohabited when the uninterrupted and cumulative length of marriage and legal cohabitation reached at least one year. However, one year is not required if one of the following conditions is met:
- a child is born of this marriage or legal cohabitation;
- at the time of death, there is a dependent child for whom one of the spouses received family allowances;
- death is due to an accident after the date of marriage or was caused by a professional illness contracted in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of the profession, a mission entrusted by the Belgian Government or benefits in the context of Belgian technical assistance and provided that the origin or aggravation of this disease is after the date of marriage.
2° be at least 45 years of age when the death of the spouse occurs no later than 31 December 2015.
The age of 45 is raised to:
1° 45 years and 6 months when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2016 and no later than December 31, 2016;
2° 46 years when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2017 and no later than December 31, 2017;
3° 46 years and 6 months when the death of the spouse occurs as early as 1^er January 2018 and no later than December 31, 2018;
4° 47 years when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2019 and no later than December 31, 2019;
5° 47 years and 6 months when the death of the spouse occurs as early as 1^er January 2020 and no later than 31 December 2020;
6° 48 years when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2021 and no later than 31 December 2021;
7° 48 years and 6 months when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2022 and no later than 31 December 2022;
8° 49 years when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2023 and no later than 31 December 2023;
9° 49 years and 6 months when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2024 and no later than 31 December 2024;
10° 50 years when the death of the spouse occurs at the earliest of 1^er January 2025. "
By deliberate order in the Council of Ministers, the King may authorize the surviving spouse who reaches the age referred to in paragraph 1 to the conditions specified by the King.^er, 2° or paragraph 2 to be opted for the benefit of the provisions of Chapter II in the area of transition allowance.
2° In § 2, the sentence "The absent spouse is supposed to have died on the date that the judicial decision of declaration of absence is cast in force of a judged act." is replaced by the sentence "The absent spouse is expected to have died on the date of the transcript in the civil records of the declared judicial decision of absence cast in force of a judged thing. "
3° Section 4 is supplemented by a paragraph 4 as follows:
§ 4. For the purposes of this article, legal cohabitation means the common living situation of two persons who have made a declaration within the meaning of Article 1476 of the Civil Code.".
Art. 3. Section 7 of the same order, replaced by the Act of 10 August 2005, is replaced by the following:
"Art. 7. § 1^er. When the surviving spouse remarries, the right to survival pension is suspended.
§ 2. The surviving spouse may not claim the benefit of the surviving spouse in accordance with sections 4 to 7 if he is, due to offences committed against his deceased spouse, unworthy to inherit it in accordance with Article 727, § 1^er1°, 3°, Civil Code."
Art. 4. The title of Chapter II of the same Order is supplemented as follows:
"and the transition allowance"
In chapter II, section 1^re, of the same order, a point (c) entitled "Transition allowance" is inserted before section 8.
Art. 5. Section 8 of the same order, last amended by the Royal Decree of 25 April 1997, is replaced by the following:
Article 8. § 1^er. Subject to the provision of subsection 2 and provided that the application for a transitional allowance is filed within twelve months of the death of the spouse, the transition allowance shall be made on the first day of the month in which the spouse died if he did not yet receive a pension, and on the first day of the month following the month in which the spouse died, if he or she had already received a pension,
In other cases, the transition allowance shall take place on or before the first day of the month following the month in which the application is filed.
The declaration of absence in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code is proof of death. The absent spouse is presumed to have died on the date of the transcript in the civil status records of the declarative judicial decision of absence cast as a force of trial.
§ 2. The right to the transition allowance is considered ex officio:
1° if the deceased spouse actually benefited from the death of an independent worker pension, had previously benefited from such a pension or had renounced the payment of it;
2° if, at the time of death of the spouse:
(a) no final decision has been notified regarding the right to pension, following the introduction of an application by the deceased spouse or following the ex officio review;
(b) a decision on the right to retirement pension was notified and the death occurred between the date of notification of the decision and the date of taking of pension benefits.
In these cases, the transition allowance takes place:
(a) on the first day of the month in which the spouse died in the cases referred to in 2°, (a) if the death occurred before the date of the pension and in those referred to in 2°, (b);
(b) the first day of the month following the month in which he died in the other cases.
When the spouses were separated from body or fact, the provisions of paragraph 1^er are applied only if the surviving spouse had introduced an application to obtain a portion of his or her spouse's pension, or if he or she could claim that benefit on his or her own behalf.
§ 3. The application for a transitional allowance in the pension plan for employees or in the public sector pension plan is also a request for a transitional allowance in the pension plan for self-employed persons. ".
Art. 6. In chapter II, section 1^re, c), of the same order, an article 8bis is inserted as follows:
"Art. 8bis. § 1^er. A transition allowance is granted to the surviving spouse, who, at the death of his spouse, has not reached the age referred to in Article 4, § 1^erParagraph 1^er2°, or paragraph 2, provided that the surviving spouse has been married at least one year with the deceased independent worker. This also applies to the spouse who was married less than a year with the deceased independent worker with whom he had previously legally cohabited when the uninterrupted and cumulative length of marriage and legal cohabitation reaches at least one year. However, one year is not required if one of the following conditions is met:
- a child is born of this marriage or legal cohabitation;
- at the time of death, a child was dependent on whom one of the spouses received family allowances;
- death is due to an accident after the date of marriage or was caused by a professional illness contracted in the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of the profession, a mission entrusted by the Belgian government or benefits in the context of Belgian technical assistance and provided that the origin or aggravation of this disease is after the date of marriage.
The King determines the way in which the condition of the child burden is proven for which one of the spouses received family allowances.
For the purposes of this article, legal cohabitation means the common living situation of two persons who have made a declaration within the meaning of Article 1476 of the Civil Code.".
Art. 7. In chapter II, section 1^re, c), of the same order, an article 8ter is inserted as follows:
"Art. 8ter. § 1^er. The transition allowance is granted for a duration of:
1° 12 months, if at the time of death no child is dependent on which one of the spouses received family allowances;
2° 24 months, if at the time of death a child is dependent on whom one of the spouses received family allowances, or if a child is born within three hundred days of death.
The King determines the way in which the condition of the child burden is proven for which one of the spouses received family allowances.
§ 2. The surviving spouse loses the transition allowance when remarried.
§ 3. The surviving spouse may not claim the transition allowance in accordance with the provisions of articles 8 to 8quinquies if, due to offences committed against his deceased spouse, he is not required to inherit it in accordance with Article 727, § 1^er, 1° or 3° of the Civil Code."
Art. 8. In chapter II, section 1^re, c), of the same order, an article 8quater is inserted as follows:
"Art. 8quater. The surviving spouse, who has been granted a transition allowance in accordance with the provisions of sections 8 to 8ter, may claim a survival pension within the meaning of sections 4 to 7, when it reaches the age of the pension referred to in Article 3, § 1^erof the Royal Decree of 30 January 1997 on the pension plan for self-employed persons pursuant to articles 15 and 27 of the Act of 26 July 1996 on social security modernization and ensuring the viability of the legal pension schemes and article 3, § 1^er4° of the Act of 26 July 1996 to fulfil the budgetary conditions of Belgium's participation in the European Economic and Monetary Union or when it meets the age and career conditions set out in Articles 3, §§ 2bis and 3 and 16bis, §§ 1^er, 2 and 2bis of the same order, in section 84 of the Act of 29 March 2012 on various provisions and sections 4 and 5 of the Act of 21 December 2012 amending the Royal Decree of 30 January 1997 on the pension plan of independent workers pursuant to articles 15 and 27 of the Act of 26 July 1996 on social security modernization and ensuring the viability of the legal pension schemes and article 3, § 1^er, 4° of the Act of 26 July 1996 to fulfil the budgetary conditions of Belgium's participation in the European Economic and Monetary Union and to establish a transitional measure relating to the reform of the early retirement pension of self-employed persons or when it receives a retirement pension on the grounds of health or physical fitness in the public sector, provided that it is not remarried on the date of pension survival.
This survival pension takes place:
1° on the date of taking the Belgian pension, when the surviving spouse only justifies a professional career in Belgium or a professional career in Belgium and abroad;
2° on the date on which a foreign pension plan is taken, when the surviving spouse only justifies a foreign professional career;
3° at the age of the pension referred to in Article 3, § 1^erfrom the Royal Decree of 30 January 1997, when the surviving spouse does not justify a career. "
Art. 9. In chapter II, section 1^re(c) of the same order, an article 8quinquies is inserted as follows:
"Art. 8quinquies. By deliberately decreed in the Council of Ministers, the King may, under conditions fixed by him, extend the benefit of the transitional allowance to the legal cohabitants who are not united by a bond of kinship, alliance or adoption resulting in a prohibition of marriage provided for in the Civil Code.".
Art. 10. In section 30bis of the same order, last amended by the Act of 30 January 1997, the following amendments are made:
1st paragraph 1^er is replaced by the following:
"The pensions referred to in this chapter shall be payable only if the beneficiary does not have a professional activity and if the beneficiary does not have an allowance due to illness, disability, involuntary unemployment by application of Belgian or foreign social security legislation or a status applicable to the staff of an international public law institution, or an allowance due to career interruption, credit-time, reduction of benefits granted
2° a paragraph written as follows is inserted between paragraph 1^er and paragraph 2:
"The transition allowance shall be payable even if the surviving spouse is engaged in a professional activity or if the surviving spouse is entitled to compensation for illness, disability or involuntary unemployment, by application of Belgian or foreign social security legislation or a status applicable to the staff of an international public law institution, an allowance for termination of career, credit-time or reduction of benefits or a retirement pension for reasons "
3° in paragraph 2 that becomes paragraph 3, the words "previous paragraph" are replaced by the words "paragraph 1^er".
Art. 11. In section 43, paragraph 1^er, of the same decree, last amended by the Royal Decree of 18 November 1996, the words "and transitional allocations" are inserted between the words "survival" and the words "have adapted".
CHAPTER 3. - Amendments to the Royal Decree of 30 January 1997 on the pension plan for self-employed persons pursuant to articles 15 and 27 of the Act of 26 July 1996 on social security modernization and ensuring the viability of the legal pension schemes and article 3, § 1^er4° of the Act of 26 July 1996 to fulfil the budgetary conditions of Belgium's participation in the European Economic and Monetary Union
Art. 12. In chapter IV, of the Royal Decree of 30 January 1997 on the pension plan for self-employed persons pursuant to articles 15 and 27 of the Act of 26 July 1996 on social security modernization and ensuring the viability of the legal pension schemes and article 3, § 1^er, 4° of the law of 26 July 1996 to fulfil the budgetary conditions of Belgium's participation in the European Economic and Monetary Union, last amended by the law of 22 December 2008, an article 7bis is inserted as follows:
"Art. 7bis. § 1^er. The eligible transition allowance based on the deceased spouse's career is expressed by a fraction.
The fraction is as follows:
1° the numerator represents the number obtained by dividing by four the total of the quarters likely to open the right to the transitional allowance located prior to the quarter of the death, if the deceased spouse did not yet benefit, at his death, from a pension or situated before the quarter in which his retirement pension took place, if the deceased spouse had already benefited, at his death, from a pension
2° the denominator expresses the number of calendar years included in the period taking place on 1^er January of the year of the twentieth anniversary of the deceased spouse and which ends on December 31 of the year preceding either the year in which he died, if he did not yet benefit, at his death, of a pension or that of the taking of his retirement pension, if he already benefited from a retirement pension at his death.
When the number of full-time equivalent days obtained by multiplying the numerator referred to in the preceding paragraph, 1° by 312 is greater than the number obtained by multiplying the denominator referred to in the preceding paragraph, 2° by 312, the full-time equivalent days giving the most advantageous benefit per calendar year are taken into account in the result of the latter multiplication.
§ 2. The King sets out the terms and conditions for the opening of the right to the transition allowance and the amount of the transition allowance when the spouse died no later than in the quarter in which he reached or would have reached the age of 20. "
Art. 13. In chapter IV of the same order, last amended by the Act of 22 December 2008, an article 8bis is inserted as follows:
"Art. 8bis. § 1^er. The transition allowance is based on professional income.
§ 2. By professional income, it is necessary to hear the professional income defined in Article 5, § 2.
Article 5, § 3, is applicable by analogy to the calculation of the transition allowance."
Art. 14. In chapter IV, of the same order, last amended by the Act of 22 December 2008, an article 9bis is inserted as follows:
"Art. 9bis. § 1^er. For the purpose of calculating the transition allowance, the numerator of the representative fraction of the career of the deceased spouse referred to in Article 7bis, § 1^er, is split into four parts:
1° a first part that represents the number of years and quarters after December 31, 2002, any quarter of which is 0.25;
2° a second part that represents the number of years and quarters located after December 31, 1996 and before December 1,^er January 2003, any quarter of 0.25;
3° a third part that represents the number of years and quarters located after December 31, 1983 and before 1^er January 1997, any quarter of 0.25;
4° the balance that is presumed corresponds exclusively to the portion of the career prior to 1984.
§ 2. By calendar year, the transition allowance that corresponds to the career referred to in § 1^er, 1°, is obtained by multiplying professional income successively by:
1° a fraction of which the numerator is 1 and the denominator is that referred to in Article 7bis, § 1^er. When the year in question does not come into full account, the numerator of this fraction is reduced to 0.25, 0.50 or 0.75 as compared to 1, 2 or 3 quarters;
2° 60 p.c.;
3° 0.663250 for the portion of professional income not exceeding 31.820.77 EUR;
0.541491 for the portion of professional income greater than EUR 31.820.77.
The amount referred to in the previous paragraph, 3°, is attached to the pevot index 103.14 (base 1996 = 100). It is adapted, in order to bring it to the level of the prices of the year concerned, according to the terms provided for in Article 6, § 2, paragraphs 2 and 3.
§ 3. By calendar year, the transition allowance that corresponds to the career referred to in § 1^er, 2°, is obtained by multiplying professional income successively by:
1° a fraction of which the numerator is 1 and the denominator is that referred to in Article 7bis, § 1^er. When the year in question does not come into full account, the numerator of this fraction is reduced to 0.25, 0.50 or 0.75 as compared to 1, 2 or 3 quarters;
2° 60 p.c.;
3° 0.567851 for the portion of professional income not exceeding EUR 35.341.68;
0.463605 for the occupational income portion greater than EUR 35.341.68.
The amount referred to in the previous paragraph, 3°, is attached to the pevot index 103.14 (base 1996 = 100). It is adapted, in order to bring it to the level of the prices of the year concerned, according to the terms provided for in Article 6, § 2bis, paragraphs 2 and 3.
§ 4. By calendar year, the transition allowance that corresponds to the career referred to in § 1^er, 3° is obtained by multiplying professional income successively by:
1° a fraction of which the numerator is 1 and the denominator is that referred to in Article 7bis, § 1^er. When the year in question does not come into full account, the numerator of this fraction is reduced to 0.25, 0.50 or 0.75 as compared to 1, 2 or 3 quarters;
2° 60 p.c.;
3° the fraction referred to in Article 6, § 3, 3°.
§ 5. Part of the transition allowance referred to in § 1^er, 4°, is calculated according to the provisions of § 4, 1° and 2°.
§ 6. When the numerator of the fraction expressing the equivalent full-time days likely to open the right to the transition allowance is reduced under Article 7bis, § 1^er, paragraph 3, or pursuant to section 19 of Royal Decree No. 72, this reduction shall, for the calculation of the transition allowance, be carried out on the full-time equivalent days that give rise to the granting of the least transitional allowance.
The elimination of excess days is done in accordance with Article 9, § 5.
§ 7. If the amount of the transition allowance calculated in accordance with the provisions of articles 7bis, 8bis and this article is less than the amount obtained by multiplying the amount of 9.648.57 euros by the fraction referred to in Article 7bis, § 1^er, this last amount is allocated.
The amount of 9.648.57 euros referred to in the preceding paragraph is attached to the pevot index 103.14 (base 1996 = 100) and evolves in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 2 August 1971 organizing a linkage regime to the index of prices to the consumption of wages, wages, pensions, allowances and subsidies of the public treasury of certain social benefits, the limits of remuneration to be taken into account in calculating certain social security contributions imposed
The King may, by order deliberately in the Council of Ministers, increase the amount referred to in paragraph 1^er.
§ 8. Section 11 is not applicable to the transition allowance.
§ 9. Sections 131, 131bis and 131ter of the Act of May 15, 1984 outgoing harmonization measures in pension plans are not applicable to the transitional allowance. "
CHAPTER 4. - Final provisions
Art. 15. The provisions of this Act apply to surviving spouses whose spouse or wife dies at the earliest of 1^er January 2015.
Art. 16. This Act comes into force on 1^er January 2015, with the exception of Article 2, with respect to Article 4, § 4, which produces its effects on 1^er January 2000.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 25 April 2014.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
Minister of Independents,
Mrs. S. LARUELLE
Minister of Pensions,
A. DE CROO
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) House of Representatives
(www.lachambre.be)
Documents: 53-191 - 3418.
Full report: 20 March 2014.
Senate
(www.senate.be)
Documents: 5-2782.
Annales of the Senate: March 27, 2014.