Pension settlement in divorce

Al.

stjoolzz wrote: »

Hi
My ex-wife and i are now divorced (amicably) and at some point in the very near future we will sell our joint owned house and split the proceeds (a significant amount of equity).
I am still working and have an NHS final salary pension (for the last 28 years). She may be medically retired soon so will have her pension paid up as if she is retiring at 60.

I understand that we will both be entitled to a portion of each others pension (she will have a bigger claim over mine). We would like to settle these claims when we sell the house and draw a line under it.

Any advice about how we do that without shelling out loads of money for solicitors to do it would be most welcome

An actuary will provide the info you require - garbage in, garbage out though. Define precisely that letter of instruction. I did a tasking letter recently that ran to two pages. How long were you married? The Matrimonial Causes Act makes reference to long marriages.

If you have been granted Nisi and Absolute, presumably, you are no longer each other's nominated beneficiaries? Have you amended our details with the trustees? It could get messy. Don't worry overly about the solicitor, make sure you both task the actuary and a barrister properly; solicitors are bag carriers, letter writers and stamp lickers.

Have you both done the Form E?

Your ex will get her pension paid up, but in light of her medical condition, will she incur an actuarial reduction in respect of the amount from yours if she wishes to take benefits from that at the same time? More than likely; is she/are you aware of this?

If she accepts slightly less, is she able to access it more flexibly and beneficially by commuting a trivial pension credit? This might be better for her than having fewer options with a larger sum. Do you have decree Absolute? I'm guessing so. If so, is a lump sum is important to her, can she still exchange part of her Pension Credit for a lump sum? I don't think so (happy to be corrected).

SallyG

As always ......if there is anyway to avoid splitting good defined benefit pensions like yours - do it do it do it - any process that relies on using a CETV to value a defined benefit pension - and that's a requirement of pension sharing on divorce - risks reducing the currently guaranteed income. Keep each of them intact if there's any way at all of doing it by redistribution of other assets..... even maintenance to make retirement incomes fairer ?!

Malthusian

The info for the NHS scheme seems to say that you can split the defined benefit pension, but it may not be the case for hers. Often schemes will only offer a transfer value. As SallyG says, avoid doing this if it all possible because the value of what the receiver gets will be much less than what is being taken away from the giver. And if it's an amicable divorce then you won't want that. If at all possible, a clean break by dividing up the non-pension assets while taking into account the pensions is preferable.

I wonder if you're allowed to claim you've divorced "amicably" before you've settled the finances ;-)

molerat

ManofLeisure wrote: »

A solicitor may in ''the long term'' save you money .

Make sure it is done right, even lawyers get it wrong sometimes, an old story not exactly the same as your situation but a very important lesson
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12100749.Sheriff_wins_share_of_house_sale_proceeds/

kangoora

molerat wrote: »

Make sure it is done right, even lawyers get it wrong sometimes, an old story not exactly the same as your situation but a very important lesson
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12100749.Sheriff_wins_share_of_house_sale_proceeds/

Maybe by 'law' she had an entitlement to the cash and the solicitor screwed up by not excluding the survivorship clause but under any bounds of common sense she should have been told to go and whistle for any money.

Totally understandable where the phrase 'the law is an !!!' comes from.

stjoolzz

Malthusian wrote: »

. If at all possible, a clean break by dividing up the non-pension assets while taking into account the pensions is preferable.

I wonder if you're allowed to claim you've divorced "amicably" before you've settled the finances ;-)

Clean break taking into account the pensions is what we are after. Looking ahead we have daughters doing exams next summer so will not sell before then.

I will have a chat with a solicitor or two in the next few months and try to work out this pension stuff

many thanks for the replies so far