Disability allowance residence condition · Judgment 41/2020
Belgian Constitutional Court · 12 March 2020
A person could live in Belgium and meet the disability test for an income-replacement allowance, yet be excluded because of time spent elsewhere. A 2018 provision required ten years of actual residence in Belgium over a lifetime, including a continuous stretch of at least five years.
What the annulment removed
The Constitutional Court annulled the provisions introducing this additional residence-history requirement. For a person whose studies, work or family life had taken them abroad, a gap in the chronology could no longer exclude them on that basis under the annulled text. The judgment concerned a particular income-replacement allowance. Other eligibility requirements still needed to be examined.
Read the reason for the refusal
Ask which allowance was requested and which condition the authority says was missing. A refusal based on past residence is different from a dispute over income, medical assessment or ordinary residence at the relevant time. Keep the application, dated decision and appeal information. A constitutional annulment and a person’s entitlement to payment for a particular period are separate issues.
Read the Belgian Constitutional Court’s decision and full judgment
More decisions from Belgium · Explore the European Case Law Journal · Individual consultation times and fees
