Ex- Partner entitlement to company pension

Le_Foot

Can anyone tell me if my son's ex -partner would be entitled to a share of his pension when he retires. She is saying that she would be entitled to half of it. He is only 40, so there is a long time to go before he draws on it, by which time he could even be in a new relationship.
Somehow this doesn't seem fair, if it is true, she never contributed to it!
Thanks.

Caz3121

were they married? pensions can be considered as part of the financial settlement in divorce and often are offset against other assets...eg one keeps pension and the other gets a higher % of the house

Le_Foot

No, they were never married, they were together for 17 years, and have 2 teenage children, who my son is quite happy to pay towards. They lived in rented accommodation, and she has stayed in the family home, with the children.
She works full time, and earns as much as my son when all her benefits are taken into consideration.

Brighton_belle

As to the fairness of it - if she has less pension of her own because of time off to bring up their children then it wouldn't be fair that she is much worse off in old age than her ex partner.
But as they are not married, I have no idea of the legal side of it.

Errata

She'll be lucky! A pension splitting order is made by a court as part of a financial settlement on divorce.

DUTR

Le_Foot wrote: »

No, they were never married, they were together for 17 years, and have 2 teenage children, who my son is quite happy to pay towards. They lived in rented accommodation, and she has stayed in the family home, with the children.
She works full time, and earns as much as my son when all her benefits are taken into consideration.

If they were not married then she will have to go whistle, don't let the moralistics get to ya, and tell your son not be be soft, once the children are of age, he has himself to look after until his grave.

pinkshoes

DUTR wrote: »

If they were not married then she will have to go whistle, don't let the moralistics get to ya, and tell your son not be be soft, once the children are of age, he has himself to look after until his grave.

That's not how a court will see it! They have children together, thus an 18 year commitment.

Le Foot, did she take any time out of her career to raise your children? If she did, then she would be entitled to a PART of your pension, equal to the years she lost paying into her own, but definitely not half. It can be paid as a lump sum now rather than monthly payments for the rest of her life.

i.e. I took 9 months maternity, then do 3 days a week instead of 5 now, and will do until DS is 5. If me and OH split up, then given I will have sacrificed the equivalent of 29 months of not paying into my pension. In a 40 year working life, this is about 6%, so I'd expect about 3% of his final pension pot.

DUTR

pinkshoes wrote: »

That's not how a court will see it! They have children together, thus an 18 year commitment.

Le Foot, did she take any time out of her career to raise your children? If she did, then she would be entitled to a PART of your pension, equal to the years she lost paying into her own, but definitely not half. It can be paid as a lump sum now rather than monthly payments for the rest of her life.

i.e. I took 9 months maternity, then do 3 days a week instead of 5 now, and will do until DS is 5. If me and OH split up, then given I will have sacrificed the equivalent of 29 months of not paying into my pension. In a 40 year working life, this is about 6%, so I'd expect about 3% of his final pension pot.

It will be laughed out of court (if it ever got there)
Why con the OP?

meritaten

It may depend on who he, (the ex) specified as his beneficiary at the time of taking out the plan. and of course whether he is able to change that - and has!

Oldernotwiser

pinkshoes wrote: »

That's not how a court will see it! They have children together, thus an 18 year commitment.

Le Foot, did she take any time out of her career to raise your children? If she did, then she would be entitled to a PART of your pension, equal to the years she lost paying into her own, but definitely not half. It can be paid as a lump sum now rather than monthly payments for the rest of her life.

i.e. I took 9 months maternity, then do 3 days a week instead of 5 now, and will do until DS is 5. If me and OH split up, then given I will have sacrificed the equivalent of 29 months of not paying into my pension. In a 40 year working life, this is about 6%, so I'd expect about 3% of his final pension pot.

I think you could be in for a bit of a shock. According to

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Divorceseparationandrelationshipbreakdown/Moneypropertyandpossessionswhenyourrelationshipends/Financialpla


"Your pension rights at the end of a relationship
Only couples who were married or in civil partnerships have the right to make a claim on their husband, wife or civil partner’s pension.
If you were living together but were not married or in a civil partnership, you have no legal right to any of your partner’s pension. But you could use some or all of a pension as part of a settlement if you choose."

DUTR

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I think you could be in for a bit of a shock. according to

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Divorceseparationandrelationshipbreakdown/Moneypropertyandpossessionswhenyourrelationshipends/Financialpla


"Your pension rights at the end of a relationship
Only couples who were married or in civil partnerships have the right to make a claim on their husband, wife or civil partner’s pension.
If you were living together but were not married or in a civil partnership, you have no legal right to any of your partner’s pension. But you could use some or all of a pension as part of a settlement if you choose."

Sometimes it makes you wonder where some dream up these silly ideas that it would be any other way, especially when they try and con others , as mentioned earlier, OP the ex will have to go whistle and tell your son not be be so soft.