A woman claimed to be known as common-law spouse of a deceased and sought recognition as his widow in a pension fund in which he was insured and to be entitled to payments by virtue of the deceased's rights in the fund.
The Court rejected the claim because the couple did not manage a joint household and cannot be considered as common-law partners. In order to be deemed a common-law spouse one need to show that the couple managed family life and a joint household. In this case, the couple did have a daughter, but they lived in separate houses and their addresses at the Ministry of the Interior were different. Moreover, the woman had an intense relationship with another man. Therefore, the woman was not known to the public as a common-law spouse of the deceased at the time of his demise and therefore she is not entitled to his rights in the fund.