What happens to joint insurance policies after separation and divorce in Germany?
In short
What happens to joint insurance policies after separation and divorce in Germany depends on who holds them: the policyholder's contract continues, the partner who moves out needs their own liability and contents cover, together from about EUR 60 a year. A spouse stays in statutory family health insurance until the divorce, then cover continues with their own contribution. Check life policy beneficiaries at once.
Benchmarks for the policies the partner moving out needs after a separation, from published German tariff examples.
Example
Typical range
Personal liability, single, cover EUR 10 to 50 million
about EUR 40 to 120 a year
Basic single liability tariff
from about EUR 20 to 30 a year
Contents, 80 square metres in Dresden
about EUR 23 to 25 a year
Contents, 80 square metres in Düsseldorf
about EUR 51 to 54 a year
Single parent with child after the separation, family liability tariff
about EUR 60 to 180 a year
Benchmarks as of October 2026 from publicly quoted tariff examples.
Premiums depend on location, floor space and scope.
Worked example
Couple separates, she moves out, he was the policyholder
He keeps liability and contents for the old flat; she needs her own cover for her new flat of 50 square metres.
Her new personal liability, single
about EUR 50 to 80
Her new contents, 50 square metres
about EUR 30 to 60
His liability, switched to single
premium usually drops a little
Beneficiary of his term life policy
to be set again
Around EUR 80 to 140 a year in new basic cover for the partner moving out. The amounts are benchmarks from our quoting practice.
What happens to each policy after a separation
An insurance policy belongs to the person who took it out, the policyholder (Versicherungsnehmer). After a separation, that contract simply continues; the partner was only co-insured. How long that cover lasts after moving out is set by the policy wording and differs from tariff to tariff.
The divorce itself does not end any policy. It only changes who is co-insured and who keeps paying which premium.
Policy
What happens after separation and divorce
What to do
Personal liability, family tariff
stays with the policyholder
the partner moving out takes out their own, the other switches to single or family with children
Contents
covers the flat named in the policy
the new flat needs its own policy, adjust the old sum insured
Car
stays with policyholder and vehicle
whoever keeps the car has the policy transferred
Term or endowment life
continues unchanged
check and change the beneficiary
Private pension
part of the pension rights adjustment
declare it in the divorce proceedings
Statutory health insurance
family insurance until the divorce
then own contribution or proof of other cover
During the separation year: what matters now
During the separation year (Trennungsjahr) you are still married. Family health insurance refers to spouses, so a partner without income above the limit stays covered until the divorce is final (§ 10 SGB V).
Liability and contents work differently: once one partner moves out, they no longer live in the insured household. Ask the insurer in writing until when they are still covered, and take out your own policies for the new flat in good time.
Life insurance after a separation: beneficiary first
If your spouse is named as beneficiary of your term or endowment life policy, they receive the money if you die, even after a separation or divorce. A revocable beneficiary can be changed without the insurer's consent (§ 159 VVG). An irrevocable one acquires the right as soon as they are named.
If a term life policy secures a joint loan, agree any change of beneficiary with the bank and your ex partner first.
Pension policies in a divorce: the pension rights adjustment
In a German divorce, pension rights built up during the marriage are split (Versorgungsausgleich). Private contracts count if they were built through work or assets, serve old age or disability provision and are aimed at a pension (§ 2 VersAusglG). Certified pension contracts such as Riester count regardless of how they pay out.
An endowment policy that pays only a lump sum is not part of the pension rights adjustment. How it is treated in the divorce is for your lawyer to settle as part of the division of assets.
Health insurance after the divorce
With the divorce, family insurance for the ex spouse ends. The statutory insurer then continues it as a voluntary membership with its own contribution (§ 188 (4) SGB V). If you are insured otherwise, for example through your own job, you can leave within two weeks of the insurer's notice and must prove the other cover.
Joint children stay covered through a parent with statutory insurance as long as the conditions are met.
When nothing needs to change after the separation
Policies that were only ever in your name, such as disability, accident or a single liability policy, are not affected by the separation. Just check beneficiaries and your address. The cost of the divorce itself is almost never covered by legal expenses insurance.
Step by step
List all policies: who is the policyholder, who is co-insured?
Ask the insurer in writing until when the partner who moved out is still covered.
Take out liability and contents for the new flat from the day you move in.
Check and change beneficiaries in life and pension policies.
After the divorce, sort out your own health insurance and its new contribution.
Checklist
Own personal liability from the day of moving out
Contents cover for the new flat
Sum insured for the old flat adjusted
Beneficiary in term and endowment life changed
Car policy transferred to whoever keeps the car
Health insurance after the divorce sorted out
Common mistakes
Relying on cover in the ex partner's policy without asking
Not changing the beneficiary of a life policy
Ignoring the health insurer's notice after the divorce and not budgeting for the contribution
Not declaring private pension policies in the divorce proceedings
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Am I still covered by my partner's liability policy after moving out?
That depends on the policy wording, and the rules differ.
Get it confirmed in writing or take out your own liability policy from the day you move out.
Who pays the joint policies during the separation year?
Towards the insurer, the policyholder.
How you split the premiums between you belongs in your separation agreement.
Will my ex get my life insurance?
If they are named as beneficiary and you do not change it, they can receive the money.
You change a revocable beneficiary by notifying the insurer.
Can I cancel joint policies because of the separation?
German law has no special right to cancel because of a separation.
The agreed notice periods apply, usually to the end of the insurance year.
What about the children?
In statutory health insurance they stay covered through one parent.
For liability, both parents should check whether the children are named in their policy.
Does legal expenses insurance pay for the divorce?
Not the proceedings themselves as a rule, usually only a first consultation.
See our page on legal expenses insurance and divorce.
