spouse wants 50% of my pension in divorce

mackemdave

noh wrote: »

The divorce will not be granted unless there is a financial agreement.

Your ex is not specifically entitled to 50% of your pension.
You do need to talk to a solicitor.
See here for some info on pensions and divorce.
http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/pension_rights/divorce

If its been a long marriage then I would say his ex has every right to 50% of his pension...as will he be entitled to 50% of his ex's if she has one.

At some stage you and your ex will need to disclose your assets and liabilities as of a certain date....If you have take 25% of your pension as a lump sum then this will have to be disclosed.....legally ex could well be entitled to 50% of this sum.

Try to negotiate a settlement of finances between yourselves and try to avoid getting solicitors involved as the pot will significantlyreduced as they will introduce conflict which is all well and good for them but notfor you

Debt_Free_Chick

r6owned wrote: »

not that helps or makes a difference, but she moved out, left me in the house and is divorcing me for un-reasonable behavoir, basically because she wants to secure her writs to 50% of my pension

No, it doesn't help or make any difference - sorry (been there, done that, got the T-shirt). Just let go of it, please ...?

She has a right to part of your pension anyway, irrespective of "who did what". That's just the way it is. So it's far better just to deal with this !!!!!! as you only have to do so once. Having addressed it, you can move on - cliche that it is, but it's what we all have to aim for in these situations.

Regards

Debt_Free_Chick

r6owned wrote: »

thanks to all... for your responses..

HTH... I want to use the 25% i can get as cash from my pension (over 56) to add to my 50% value of the house, so I can buy my ex out of her share. I have no other equity to offer her.
then when i get the mortgage it will be a little less painful for me to pay off over the next 10yrs.

so hypothetically if the 25% from my pension is worth 50k and I only take 25k, that should stay within the rules?? i hope that is a yes.. eeek! then that will make me marginally happy

Possibly, you could take the £50k anyway. She is entitled to half the total.

If your tax free cash were £50k, that would suggest a total pension pot of £200k. She would then be entitled to £100k of that. You take £50k cash, less her £100k ... that would leave you with the £50k remaining.

If you've already bought an annuity with the remainder (£150k), then that may need to be reassigned between you both. You should really discuss this with your solicitor and let them know that you plan to release your pension fund to help buy her out of the property. Having said that, solicitors generally do not have a firm understanding of the subtelties of the pension requirements (and that's not surprising, given that they're so complex).

But, do, let your solicitor know what your plans are as I'm sure they can be factored in to the final financial agreement.

r6owned

Hi all and HTH, thanks for your replies... its really helping to get my head around this mess and give me some sanity, in that I can use some of my pension to supplement the new mortgage.

whats the cut off date when my Ex can no longer have claim to my assets, post speration or post divorce?

I'm not taking an annuity now, the value is currently in a bad performing stakeholder, once I take the 25% cash, i have to move the remaining into a sipp or a drawn down, until i retire in 10 yrs time. I have an IFA helping me with that as well.

we was married for 32 yrs before we seperated, last september, so I can offset any pension assets and savings (she has personally)? against mine?

apart from my 50% value of the property, a stakeholder and an old buyout plan pensions and some small savings, i have no other assets.

is it true that If I have any savings now, it would be better to turn them into a hard asset rather than cash, as they will be split 50/50 ?
do cars count as an assett?

r6owned

mackemdave wrote: »

If its been a long marriage then I would say his ex has every right to 50% of his pension...as will he be entitled to 50% of his ex's if she has one.

At some stage you and your ex will need to disclose your assets and liabilities as of a certain date....If you have take 25% of your pension as a lump sum then this will have to be disclosed.....legally ex could well be entitled to 50% of this sum.

Try to negotiate a settlement of finances between yourselves and try to avoid getting solicitors involved as the pot will significantlyreduced as they will introduce conflict which is all well and good for them but notfor you

She's on the war path, because of my bad reaction when she first mentioned being entitled to 50% of my pension, this is why she's going down the divorce route to get legal access to my pensions,
She thinks the divorce will only cost her £1,000, with me not paying anything if I don't contest the unreasonable behaviour.

JA1000

Sounds like expensive unreasonable behaviour.

If she chases the pension, £100k of the fund could be hers, subject to other asset negotiation

zzzLazyDaisy

r6owned wrote: »

whats the cut off date when my Ex can no longer have claim to my assets, post speration or post divorce?

Post financial settlement (which is normally part of the divorce). So the quicker you can reach a legal agreement on a financial settlement, the quicker you can draw a line under it.

we was married for 32 yrs before we seperated, last september, so I can offset any pension assets and savings (she has personally)? against mine?

Both of you will have to have your pensions valued, then both valuations are added together and each person is entitled to 50% of the total pot. That however is just the starting point and subject to negotiation.

34 years is a long marriage. Does she have a career? Does she work full time? Or does she only work part-time or not at all? How old is she? The reason I ask is that if she is your financial dependent, then - depending on her circumstances - you may also be ordered to pay maintenance to her

is it true that If I have any savings now, it would be better to turn them into a hard asset rather than cash, as they will be split 50/50 ?

As part of the divorce proceedings you will both be required to produce evidence of income and assets, such as bank statements etc. If you spend some of the savings to avoid her getting her hands on her 'share' the court will find out as her solicitor will ask for an order that you produce bank statements for the past year. Then any settlement will take into account the money, as if you hadn't spent it.

do cars count as an assett?

Yes. But unless there is a big difference between the value of your car and hers, they probably won't be taken into consideration (otoh if you have a brand new merc and she has a pushbike, then that could be a different matter)

Basically, although it is difficult to get your head round all this, you have to stop thinking in terms of what is 'yours' and what is 'hers'. Apart from obvious personal possessions, the value of everything is pooled, as of it all belongs to both of you, and then the value is split 50/50. That is the starting point but then the dividing line can be moved depending on the parties needs.

For example if you have a millionaire husband with a high income and a non-working wife with four young children, there is a good chance that she will get more than half of the assets because she has to provide a home for the children. Similarly a disabled wife who is totally financially dependent on her husband may get a bigger cut. And a wife from a long marriage who has given up a career to raise a family while her husband continued to work and further his career is also going to be in a strong negotiating position.

And just in case you are wondering - who left who, and who did what, are not taken into account when dealing with the financial side of things.

I hope this sheds some light on how these things are generally viewed, but really, the only person who can advise you on your own particular situation is your own solicitor because s/he will have all the facts.

Debt_Free_Chick

JA1000 wrote: »

Sounds like expensive unreasonable behaviour.

If she chases the pension, £100k of the fund could be hers, subject to other asset negotiation

It's not a case of "if she chases the pension". The pension has to be declared as a matrimonial asset so she will get a share of it. Either as a "pension" or as some other asset.