CETV for divorce

CarrotCake111

I am divorcing and have a civil service Alpha pension (career-average) with 5 years contributions, as well as a Nuvos pension which had 2 years of contributions.  As per my latest statement, my annual Alpha pension is £5,893 and my Nuvos annual pension is £1,191.  My survivor's Alpha pension is £2,209 per year.  I will be applying for a CETV for divorce purposes, but my spouse and I are keen to start discussions immediately as to how we divide up our house, money and pensions.  I'm 35, and my Normal Pension Age is 68.  Is there any way of guesstimating what the CETV on this pension might come back as, in order to give us a headstart on our discussions?  Any way to ballpark what sort of CETV might come back from such a pension setup?  It could take a month to get this CETV back I am told, and we wanted to try to get our heads round our situation as quickly as possible to get things taken care of speedily.  If anyone is able to help or give some ideas how we might get a rough idea of the CETV, I'd be really grateful.

Brynsam

I'm afraid you simply need to wait. The calculation of a CETV for divorce purposes is horribly complicated and there is no realistic way to start guessing what it might be.

Marcon

Asking the same question won't get you a different answer from that you had before: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6198103/c#latest

hyubh

Marcon said:

Asking the same question won't get you a different answer from that you had before: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6198103/c#latest

Hmm, definitely the same person? After replies received, showed their appreciation by scrubbing out their original question, changing their own first reply in the thread to look like they knew the answer all along, then closed the thread...?

Bravepants

I'm pretty sure one cannot get a CETV for a Civil Service pension.

Brynsam

hyubh said:

Marcon said:

Asking the same question won't get you a different answer from that you had before: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6198103/c#latest

Hmm, definitely the same person? After replies received, showed their appreciation by scrubbing out their original question, changing their own first reply in the thread to look like they knew the answer all along, then closed the thread...?

Looks pretty similar:

andyg107 said:

Hi all.  I have a Civil Service, career-average, defined benefit pension.  I wonder if anyone knows how the CETV might be assessed on such a thing?  Would it be the same/similar method to a Final Salary pension's calculation, or is the methodology different?  I am 35, been in this pension for 5 years, being in a previous scheme for two years before that.  My annual pension from the current scheme is on my latest statement as £6,000.  Annual pension from the previous scheme is £1,200.  According to my statement, I have used 13.5% of the Lifetime Allowance of £1.055m through the benefits contained within the statement.

It will take 1-3 months to get this CETV back from the scheme trustees so wondering if anyone can give guidance to estimate the CETV in the meantime?

Silvertabby

Bravepants said:

I'm pretty sure one cannot get a CETV for a Civil Service pension.

CETV for a transfer out -  no.
CETV for divorce purposes -  yes.  Two quite different things.

Bravepants

Silvertabby said:

Bravepants said:

I'm pretty sure one cannot get a CETV for a Civil Service pension.

CETV for a transfer out -  no.
CETV for divorce purposes -  yes.  Two quite different things.

I'd better watch myself with the missus then!

hugheskevi

Using the Civil Service Added Pension calculators to work out what size of lump sum would be required to buy pension of the amount you have accrued is probably the quickest and easiest way to get a ballpark figure whilst waiting for the actual figure.

Note that if you joined the Civil Service before 31/3/2012 (or were a member of another public service pension scheme at that time) the McCloud judgment is going to mean you actually have 7 years of nuvos accrual (nuvos almost certainly being a higher value pension for you due to difference in Normal Pension age). Depending on when you divide assets, this may make things more complicated if there has to be a subsequent re-calculation of CETV following the McCloud remedy being applied to your pension.

Silvertabby

hugheskevi said:

Using the Civil Service Added Pension calculators to work out what size of lump sum would be required to buy pension of the amount you have accrued is probably the quickest and easiest way to get a ballpark figure whilst waiting for the actual figure.

Note that if you joined the Civil Service before 31/3/2012 (or were a member of another public service pension scheme at that time) the McCloud judgment is going to mean you actually have 7 years of nuvos accrual (nuvos almost certainly being a higher value pension for you due to difference in Normal Pension age). Depending on when you divide assets, this may make things more complicated if there has to be a subsequent re-calculation of CETV following the McCloud remedy being applied to your pension.

I wouldn't bother - anything that OP came up by that method would be way out and wouldn't be accepted by the Court.

If the CS operates like the LGPS, then divorce calcs and widow's pensions are always given priority treatment, so OP may get the CETV and Form E sooner rather than later. 

linclass

Just add my two pennoth, I've just called my last employer, Civil Aviation Authority, and for divorce purposes, they charge £1,000 to provide a CETV if already retired. As if some pensioners aren't bashed already !!! 🤬🤬🤬