The Superior Court of Justice of Aragon has given the reason to Social Security to deny the widowhood pension to a woman who lived with her partner since 1999, but the relationship never formalized, that is, that they never married or became a de facto partner. Social Security decided in parallel to recognize the pension to his first wife with whom he separated more than 24 years ago.
Everything begins when, after the death of José Miguel on May 12, 2023, Evangelina decides to request the widow’s pension to Social Security, being denied. The reason is that despite having been living with their partner for 23 years, they never registered as a de facto couple at least two years before their death, as required by article 221.2 of the General Social Security Law (which can be consulted in this Official State Gazette).
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In parallel, Social Security did recognize the widow’s pension to the first woman of the deceased, Tomasa, with whom she married in 1973 and from which she was separated judicially since 2000. She began collecting the benefit with a regulatory base of 1,663.87 euros and a percentage of 60%, with economic effects since June 2023.
It was not registered as a de facto couple
Given this situation and seeing that Social Security rejected all its claims decided to go to court. Thus, Zaragoza’s social court did not prove him right. The judge explained that “the plaintiff and the deceased had no legal impediment to proceed to register as a de facto couple with analogous relationship of affectivity to the marriage if that had been his interest, which they did not do.”
Despite the Varapalo, the widow decided to resort to the Superior Court of Justice of Aragon, claiming that coexistence since 1999 was accredited and that documents as a certificate of the City of Zaragoza of 2000 and the deed of inheritance should be considered enough. Despite this, the room rejects these arguments. Regarding the fact of having been designated as a universal heiress, the court explained that this report expired and there was no other subsequent document and that, in addition, it does not prove the marriage capacity of Evangelina because it only consisted of as “separate” without accrediting legal separation.
In this sentence the key or what we must take into account is that social security acted correctly, since the requirements marked by the General Social Security Law are taxative. As the court explains, “it is clear that the registration requirement in the registry of de facto couples is not an enervating formalism but a means by which a series of essential requirements are found to generate widowhood pension in accordance with art. 221 LGSS.”