The right to a widow's pension of the victim of gender violence not living with the deceased

Comment to the STS from 14 October 2020

Abstract

The maintenance of the requirement of "stable and notorious cohabitation immediately after the death of the deceased" in order to be eligible for the widow's/widower's pension for unmarried partners may in practice have the undesirable effect that some victims of gender violence in a cohabiting couple may choose not to move away from their aggressor for fear of losing the corresponding widow's/widower's pension at a later date, which makes it absolutely urgent for the legislator or, where appropriate, the case law to intervene in order to mitigate these pernicious effects. It is precisely in this context that the STS of 14 October 2020 appeared in which, for the first time, the High Court recognises the right of a woman who, due to gender violence, was no longer living with the deceased at the time of death, to receive the widow's pension for unmarried partners provided for in art. 221 TRLGSS. Indeed, this jurisprudential commentary aims to set out and assess the legal reasoning that has led the Supreme Court to adopt this ruling.