A method and an apparatus for processing occlusions in motion estimation are described. For processing an occlusion in a forward motion field of a second frame relative to a first frame the forward motion field of the second frame relative to the first frame is determined with a motion estimator. Then an area in the second frame that is occluded in the first frame is identified with an occlusion identifier. Finally, a motion corrector determines a corrected forward motion field by filling the forward motion field in the identified area in the second frame using motion vectors of a previous backward motion field of the second frame relative to a previous third frame.