Police in Vienna, Austria, are currently investigating the bizarre case of a couple who got married and then divorced 12 times over a period of 43 years in order to take advantage of a legal loophole that allowed them to receive substantial amounts of money. The elderly couple is suspected of having arranged every divorce strictly on paper so the wife could receive the €27,000 ($28,300) severance pay she was awarded after her first husband’s death in 1981. They took advantage of a loophole in Austrian legislation that allows widows to retain the severance pay as long as they aren't married. Every 2½ years, the woman was to receive 2½ times her annual widow’s pension, so every three years or so she and her second husband would divorce so she could receive the money, and then they would remarry. The couple’s fraudulent tactic only came to light in May 2022 when the Pension Insurance Institute refused to grant the widow’s pension again, despite her 12th divorce from her second husband. The investigation revealed that the serial divorcees lived together in the same household and had never separated. Prosecutors alleged that the couple had pocketed €326,000 ($341,000) in severance payments over the last four decades. On the bright side, the couple's 12th divorce was not recognized by Austrian authorities, so they will face trial together.
