Army divorce/pension enquiry - Advice needed

ajatuk

...not sure if this is in the correct place but here goes ....married 7 years, together 9 to my now seperated hubby. he was in the army when i met him and i gave up my teaching career and £24k job to get married and move with him and my two children to support his career. i did work throughout the marriage here and there as it is hard to gain employment moving every two years. In april this year he left - it was a mutual decision however reached as he gave me an ultimatum - him or my teenage son who was getting into trouble with the police for petty things - fighting, stealing sweet from local shop etc.. I chose my son (I had previously sent my son to live with my parents for 6 months to try and save my marriage and get him away from the bad crowd).

Hubby is now out of the army after 22 years service - he left as a WO2. he is now living in York and i remain in the town we were posted to as my middle daughter is at secondary school here. We had a daughter of our own in 2009 who is now 3 and lives with me. We have tried to keep things amicable for kids sake however it is difficult as i have found out he has been consistently lying to me about meeting other women, money he has received etc..

He is due to get a lump sum of £56k in december then a monthly pension of around £750pm (though i have been told this could in fact be higher). he has told me he is going to give me £15k and put £5k in trust for our daughter. I initially was ok with this, though did think it was a bit low given that i am the primary carer of our child and I gave up my career for him & his, and that we had spent 9 yrs together...however since i found out he has been lying I am putting my fighting gloves on and not being taken for an idiot any more!

Does anyone now how much of his lump sum and monthly pension a judge would see fit to award me under these circumstances (length of marriage, 3yr old child etc). i spoke to a solicitor on Wikivorce and was told that any judge would start at 50/50 split an let lawyers battle it out..? has anyone else been in this situation and can offer help or their story? thanks in advance

Zelazny

I've not had any experience of these things, but my understanding was that you kept whatever you brought to the marriage and that anything earned/acquired during the marriage was split 50:50, subject to the proviso that you have enough for childcare.

Assuming that they count time you are together rather than time married, then the part earned while you were together would be 9 years out of 22 years service, meaning your basic entitlement would be somewhere in the region of 4.5/22 =~20.5%.

So of the lump sum, you'd be looking at £56k x 20.5% =~ £11,500.
Of the pension, you'd be looking at £750 x 20.5% =~ £150 pm

£150 per month is worth about £3,000-£6,000 (very rough figures) so the numbers don't look that far from what he's offered.

That said, there's all sorts of other things to take into account, such as other incomes, disposition of house and other assets, how much you both need, etc. it's a complicated situation, so see a professional.

System

Don't forget that you will not see your portion of the pension, if you take that route, until you reach retirement age.

(Just in case you thought that you would get it now as he will)

atush

I would think you are entitled to half his pension incl lump sum due to the longish time you were together, and you have a child. But you would not get it now, you would have half of it set aside for you in your name.

In addition he must pay child support and probably some form of maintenance for you. Can you go back to teaching? Best to do so immediately. Maybe you can enroll your son in that school is it is 'better'.

when you were teaching, did you pay into the good FS pension? Both the pensions (yours and his) will be put together then split so you would get less than half of his. All assets and savings int he family will also be split.

You need to see a solicitor. See the Citizens advice first. you need to get your skates on and FAST. Once he has that cash in his pocket, it could be too late.

NAR

ajatuk you say you are separated but no mention of divorce yet. AFAIK the split of marital assets, including his pension, only takes place at time of divorce when the financial settlement is awarded.

ajatuk

Yes I have told him I am seeing a solicitor and filing for divorce - I am there next Tuesday.
I am not sure if I paid into a pension whilst I was teaching - I will look into this.
I cannot go back to teaching as I have a 3 year old to care for and cannot affordto go back to work full time.
My son is now 17 therefore doesn't need to go to school anymore.
I just wanted a general opinion without going into too much detail about my personal stuff. The main facts are those stated in my original post.
Thanks to all those that repliedeith good advice.

ajatuk

NAR wrote: »

ajatuk you say you are separated but no mention of divorce yet. AFAIK the split of marital assets, including his pension, only takes place at time of divorce when the financial settlement is awarded.

Yesi am aware of this - my ex has said he will willingly give ne £15k of his lump sum at Xmas as my 'pay off' ... We do not have any other assets such as cars, property etc- it is literally his lump sum & pension.

molerat

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/AboutDefence/CorporatePublications/PersonnelPublications/Pensions/Booklets/PensionsOnDivorceInformation.htm

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/26A8E246-4EB4-4BDF-A6A3-3CCF7993DBEE/0/20111118PensionsOnDivorceAndDissolutionOfCivilPartnershipsMMP131Nov2011.pdf

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/13B879B0-280E-46EB-AE04-1A03493BF6B4/0/20110829_POD_Charging_Regime_Booklet.pdf

http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/68C876C2-8637-43AA-82B7-8C2C394BA57E/0/20111220PensionSharingonDivorceFactorTablesDec2011.pdf

xylophone

I am not sure if I paid into a pension whilst I was teaching

It would be surprising if you hadn't.
https://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/

jamesd

Zelazny wrote: »

£150 per month is worth about £3,000-£6,000 (very rough figures) so the numbers don't look that far from what he's offered.

Make that more like £36,000+ using a 20x multiplier that's often used for various purposes and doing it for a whole year rather than just one month. Its actual value is higher.

Since you've many years left to work - 18+ depending on when state pension age is and assuming you're 50 or younger - and you're presumably very capable of working, you would be expected to be able to support yourself. Not much chance that he'd be required to pay maintenance for you unless you're significantly older than 50. You're not likely to have much choice about going to work, though I suppose you might be able to persuade the Job Center that you're incapable of working. Even if you' re no better off after child care costs you can be expected to be told you have to work.

He would be expected to pay child maintenance for at least his biological child, assuming the father of the other two is supporting them, or can be pursued to do so. Assuming his only income is the pension and a weekly net income of £170 he'd have to pay something like £22 a week, based on the CSA calculator. If he was paying for both that are eligible it'd be £30. Assuming he has no children in his current household. If he's working as well as getting the pension it'd be more, 15% of his net income if that's over £200 a week, for one child, or 20% for two.

You might prefer to seek a larger amount of lump sum now rather than pension income many years in the future. Depends in part on how much capital you need. If you choose not to work you might want more capital to subsidise that choice for a few years.

As part of divorce proceedings he'll be required to declare all of his income and assets, with the real possibility of prison time if he makes a false declaration. Same applies to you. You probably didn't accumulate much Teachers Pension while together but it will still need to be declared.

Zelazny

jamesd wrote: »

Make that more like £36,000+ using a 20x multiplier that's often used for various purposes and doing it for a whole year rather than just one month. Its actual value is higher.

You're right - for some reason I got it confused with £150 per year. My bad