Interpretation of the notion "realization of the insured risk" and "maximum amount of the old-age pension" in the context of old-age insurance

Facts

The case concerns a widow, R., born on 20 October 1940, whose husband, W., died on 12 April 1999. R. received an ordinary widow's pension from 1 May 1999. When she reached the age of 63, on 20 October 2003, her widow's pension was replaced by an ordinary old-age pension, including a supplement for widows, of CHF 1726 per month.

The decision of the Ausgleichskasse des Kantons Zürich was confirmed by the Sozialversicherungsgericht des Kantons Zürich. R. then appealed to the Federal Court, requesting a higher old-age pension based on a new calculation.

Considerations

The Federal Court examined two questions: the notion of "realization of the insured risk" in the context of Article 29quinquies paragraph 4 letter a OASIA, and the "maximum amount of the old-age pension" within the meaning of Article 35bis OASIA.

Regarding the first question, the Federal Court considered that the notion of "realization of the insured risk" must be interpreted as the realization of the state of facts underlying the entitlement to the benefit, i.e. reaching retirement age. This means that people of the same age group are treated equally in the context of splitting income between spouses.

Regarding the second question, the Federal Court considered that the "maximum amount of the…