Pension ("de réversion") for surviving spouses in the private and public sectors (Bill No. 1121 and Bill No. 1120)

Bill No. 1121 on pension ("de réversion") for surviving spouses in the private sector (employees) and Bill No. 1120 on pension ("de réversion") for surviving spouses in the public sector (civil servants, magistrates and certain public officials) were received by the National Council on 24 December 2025.

The legislative approach is sector-based (private or public sector), but pursues the common objective of equal treatment between surviving spouses, regardless of gender, with regard to the conditions of access to the pension (part of the pension received by the deceased person that is paid to their surviving spouse).

The future laws are scheduled to come into force on the first day of the month following their publication in the Journal de Monaco. They will apply immediately to current situations. Transitional provisions regulate the details.

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Contents of Bills No. 1120 and No. 1121

The explanatory statements for Bills No. 1120 and No. 1121 emphasise that the drive to enshrine gender equality in law has already led to the adoption of Law No. 1. 523 of 16 May 2022 on the promotion and protection of women's rights, which repealed obsolete or unequal provisions to the detriment of women.

In this case, the problem is reversed, with inequality to the detriment of men.

Private sector (employees):

To date, Law No. 455 of 27 June 1947 on employee pensions provides for more favourable conditions of access to survivor's pensions for widows than for widowers, as follows:

• The widower is eligible for a pension either at the age of 65 or 60 if he is suffering from a disability or illness that renders him permanently unfit for work, or from the date of his spouse's death if he has a dependent child, in which case the pension is suspended when the person concerned, aged under 65 or 60, ceases to have at least one dependent child;
• The widow is entitled to a survivor's pension from the age of 50 or from the date of her spouse's death if she has at least one dependent child, and the payment of this pension cannot be suspended when she ceases to have this dependency.

While this difference in treatment may have been justified when the text was adopted, given the social context of the post-war period, it now appears inappropriate.

Bill No. 1121 repeals discriminatory provisions and aligns the conditions for entitlement to a widower's pension with those for widows (either at the age of 50 or from the date of the spouse's death if the surviving spouse has at least one dependent child) within:

• Law No. 455 of 27 June 1947 on employee pensions (second paragraph of Article 3)
• Law No. 1.544 of 20 April 2023 establishing a Monegasque Supplementary Pension Fund (Article 10)

Public sector (civil servants, magistrates and certain public agents): :

Similarly, to date, Law No. 1.049 of 28 July 1982 on retirement pensions for civil servants, magistrates and certain public agents, as amended, provides for unequal treatment between widows and widowers, as follows:

• The widower's pension is deferred until the age of 65, unless he suffers from a disability or incurable illness that renders him permanently unfit for work; when the surviving spouse is entitled to a pension but cannot receive it because of his age, the orphan may receive the pension that the surviving spouse would have been entitled to either until the orphan's pension rights expire or until the surviving spouse begins to receive his pension.
• The widow is entitled to the pension without this age requirement.

Bill No. 1120 extends the conditions for entitlement to a widower's pension ("de réversion") to those provided for widows by repealing the additional condition of age for entitlement to a survivor's pension and its receipt by orphans (repeal of the second paragraph of Article 14 and Article 33 of Law No. 1049).

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