claiming for portion of ex husband private and state pension

building

my mum is now in dire straits as he left not leaving her anything. however we have heard that she can claim on his pensions (he lives very comfortably). however one of his private pensions is with a company called Generalli and apparently they said in a letter would not pay out to a wife (they are in the process of getting divorced). I think this sounds weird myself. any help appreciated. thanks in advance.

wannabestayathomemum

Hopefully your Mum's solicitor should already be looking at the pensions side of things on her behalf. Try this link to OPAS for some more useful information.

https://www.opas.org.uk/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/Divorce.htm

Debt_Free_Chick

Your mum needs to talk to her solicitor about Pension Sharing. This would mean that a payment is made from your dad's private pensions to a new pension in your mum's name.

The solicitor should pick this up automatically ... but it's worth mentioning.

The value of your dad's pensions must be taken into account in the financial settlement - but she could opt to receive other assets e.g. more cash, instead of a share of his pension. The starting point, however, is that she is entitled to a share of his pension.

HTH

CIS

Note that pension sharing can also be applied to the state pension as well as occupational pensions.

For State Pendion Sharing On Divorce (PSOD) contact state pension forecasting on 0845 3000 168.