post divorce pension settlement

Legacy_user

I hope someone can advise on how I can keep track of a post pension payout? As part of the full and final settlement I agreed to wait for a few years before receiving the payout from a pension we both had contributed to although it was in my ex husband's name. What rights do I have in trying to get the best performance for this pension?

mgdavid

Is the financial settlement the subject of a court Order?
what is the exact wording in the Order?

System

Thank you for your reply. No its not subject to a court order its in the written agreement. 30% to be paid to me on his 55 birthday.

rpc

Well what was written in the agreement? If it simply says you get 30% of the value at age 55 then that's what you get - no more and no less. If you wanted control of the investments then that would have needed to be part of the agreement or order.

Are you expecting a lump sum of cash? 30% of the pot exceeds the normal PCLS amount and to split a pot into two normally requires a court order.

System

#rpc - I think you have answered my question. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. BTW what does PCLS mean?

rpc

PCLS is the Pension Commencement Lump Sum, sometimes called Tax Free Cash.

For most pension schemes, you can draw 25% of the value tax free but the rest must be left in the pot for drawdown or annuity.

System

This is all starting to make sense. the agreement was 30%, I received 5% up front with 25% when he turned 55. I have just found out that he stopped paying any contributions not long after this agreement was made and has subsequently 'paid up' the pension because he switched jobs recently. From the statement it looks like his employer was the only one paying into this scheme for several years. Well that's my reading of the statement - but then again i have no idea about pensions :-(