The Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country understands that the SEPE cannot withdraw the subsidy for those over 52 years of age or ask for a refund of what was collected for having money in the bank, if that money is from a couple married in community property and, counted in half, does not exceed the limit. The SEPE claimed 4,176 euros because this unemployed man had 441,066.71 euros between an account and two investment funds, but justice understands that this money was not his alone and that the funds cannot be calculated a return that they do not give.
The SEPE recognized him the subsidy for those over 52 years of age in September 2023, at which time he was married in community property (what is achieved during the marriage belongs to both of them), and he divorced on May 31, 2024.
The problem is that in April 2025, the SEPE took away his benefit and asked him to return what was collected between September 2023 and May 2024, since he had a bank account with 208,610.35 euros and two investment funds of 165,462.04 and 66,994.32 euros, for which the State Public Employment Service calculated a return of 3.25%, the legal interest of money.
According to the ruling (which can be read in the Judiciary), that amounted to 564.89 euros per month for the account and 314.78 for the funds, 879.67 euros in total, and with other smaller incomes it reached 912.03 euros, an amount that was above 75% of the minimum wage (the one set for 2023) and for which they demanded that he return the 4,176 euros.
The unemployed man went to court and the Court of Instance of Vitoria-Gasteiz agreed with him, since the account had a negative interest, the funds had lost money between 2021 and 2023 and, since he was married in common property, only half could be counted.
The money from a marriage in marital assets only counts half
The SEPE went to the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country, but it did not agree with it either despite claiming that those savings were its own. He explains that during the period for which they were demanding the money, he was still married, so that money still had “a legal consideration with respect to marital property,” and when counted in half, it did not exceed the limit.
Furthermore, the Chamber reminds that you must first look at the returns “that have truly generated” the savings, and only if it cannot be known, apply the legal interest to them. In this case, “investment funds do not have a return that occurs in each financial year” (each year), since they only give profits or losses when they are sold, so that 3.25% could not be applied to them either.
For all this, the TSJ understands that the unemployed person had the right to collect the subsidy for those over 52 years of age and does not have to return the 4,176 euros.
The maximum unemployment without children and the subsidy for those over 52 years of age will remain frozen in 2027 at 1,225 and 480 euros if the IPREM is not raised, while pensions will rise with the CPI
The SEPE asks you to return 7,865.94 euros of the subsidy for those over 52 years of age for continuing to collect it beyond the retirement age and justice only requires you to return a little more than three months because the error was the agency’s.
The Chamber itself warns that its decision is only valid for those almost nine months, since after the divorce and the distribution of assets, the SEPE can recalculate his income with the part of that money that fell to him and, if they exceed the limit each year, remove the subsidy or claim what has been collected since then.