Pension and divorce

DancingBadger

OP, when you separated in 2005 did you involve a solicitor at that time? Is this why you mention a pension sharing order?

It sounds as if you started the legal process but then let it drop. Has your husband provided financial support for your children in the last 12 years? How old are they and you?

Married couples do separate and don't formalise the arrangement by way of a divorce, but it can cause havoc if one of both of them die without making a Will, especially if they've gone on to form new relationships.

Asking for advice on these boards and deciding whether to act on it is no bad thing, but really you do need to consult a solicitor in order to protect your interests and those of your children.

badmemory

Is it possible that the OPs soon-to-be-ex claimed one pension that he could get at before proceedings started just so it couldn't be shared? Then made sure that her pension was notified of imminent sharing arrangement. Otherwise if it was done back in 2005/6 he would not have been able to claim from his.

PeterAtBDM

Regarding the pension provider declining to provide the 25% lump sum, this could be a mere communication confusion. A standard practice when requesting pension information regarding pensions on divorce/dissolution is to submit a Form P to the pension provider/administrator. This is then returned with details such as the current Cash Equivalent Value and whether the pension is already subject to any court orders such as earmarking. Effectively, the submission of form P puts the pension provider on warning that there will potentially be a pension sharing order against the pension. As the pension provider, does not know whether this is correct or otherwise this may be why they are declining to provide the lump sum.


Taking the pension lump sum should not be done without obtaining professional financial advice and you may find that your financial adviser or lawyer can sort this out for you.

Malthusian

badmemory wrote: »

Is it possible that the OPs soon-to-be-ex claimed one pension that he could get at before proceedings started just so it couldn't be shared?

Pension sharing orders can be applied to pensions in payment including annuities, so if this was the intent it was pretty pointless.

Annuitising a pension that might only have been about £20,000 would hardly make much difference to the settlement anyway.

badmemory

Malthusian wrote: »

Pension sharing orders can be applied to pensions in payment including annuities, so if this was the intent it was pretty pointless.

Annuitising a pension that might only have been about £20,000 would hardly make much difference to the settlement anyway.

Thanks - I didn't know that. I did wonder because the OP mentioned the ex was being awkward originally. I also realised the original amount would be small but it is more about power and "getting one over" than actual money. My ex got really odd about £500 out of £50k.