Need a Pension Actuary & Divorce process guidance

Helen71

Hi, thanks in advance for your guidance and help. I will be divorcing my husband, he has worked for the NHS for 30 years, no private practice. I have very little on my pension pot due to career breaks and raising family to facilitate his career. I have it clear that I will need a pension actuary report for his pension. I am struggling to identify a company that can do this for me. Please advise: 1. On options of companies I can approach.
2. If none are available (Collins are not taking anyone for 6 months), can it be done through the solicitors? But how much more will they charge?
3. Potential timescales & costs
4. Additionally: Is 50% the best I can aspire to? or can I also request maintenance and higher pension access due to my low salary, low pension, being made redundant at the end of the year? It just feels like I am in such a vulnerable situation at 53 and after years of working towards stability. Needless to say, it is him who is leaving the relationship. 
5. Want to be reasonable but also don't want to miss out. 
Thanks

GDB2222

There’s a divorce board and you may get better advice there than on this board. 

I’ve been retired for a while now, so I won’t make any recommendations, but in my time there were several firms working in this area. Google says there still are. 

Also, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries always used to have a list. 

GDB2222

If I may add some unasked-for advice, you mentioned 'no private practice', so I assume that your husband is a doctor. And it sounds like a long marriage. So, it will be quite a substantial divorce settlement. Yet, you seem to be very unsure what you are entitled to. Maybe, you need legal representation, rather than relying on online forums? 

GDB2222

If you do want to DIY it, this guide may help.

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/1.-Sorting-Out-Finances-on-Divorce-2024.final-for-publication.pdf

Marcon

Helen71 said:

Hi, thanks in advance for your guidance and help. I will be divorcing my husband, he has worked for the NHS for 30 years, no private practice. I have very little on my pension pot due to career breaks and raising family to facilitate his career. I have it clear that I will need a pension actuary report for his pension. I am struggling to identify a company that can do this for me. Please advise: 1. On options of companies I can approach.
2. If none are available (Collins are not taking anyone for 6 months), can it be done through the solicitors? But how much more will they charge?
3. Potential timescales & costs
4. Additionally: Is 50% the best I can aspire to? or can I also request maintenance and higher pension access due to my low salary, low pension, being made redundant at the end of the year? It just feels like I am in such a vulnerable situation at 53 and after years of working towards stability. Needless to say, it is him who is leaving the relationship. 
5. Want to be reasonable but also don't want to miss out. 
Thanks

Then posting here isn't the right course of action. Nobody is going to be able to give you 'advice' based on a few sentences of background information - and more to the point, nobody is insured to do so...

Get a good divorce lawyer - they will be worth every penny.

tacpot12

You could try this firm:Actuarial Consulting in the UK - WBR Group

I've no experience of them, just found them by googling for 'Pension Actuaries'

Hoenir

Helen71 said:

I have it clear that I will need a pension actuary report for his pension. I am struggling to identify a company that can do this for me. 

Your husband needs to obtain this directly information from the scheme administrators. 

Silvertabby

Hoenir said:

Helen71 said:

I have it clear that I will need a pension actuary report for his pension. I am struggling to identify a company that can do this for me. 

Your husband needs to obtain this directly information from the scheme administrators. 

...specifying that he needs a CETV for divorce purposes.  The full data is so much more than just a value.

Albermarle

 Additionally: Is 50% the best I can aspire to? or can I also request maintenance and higher pension access due to my low salary, low pension, being made redundant at the end of the year? It just feels like I am in such a vulnerable situation at 53 and after years of working towards stability. Needless to say, it is him who is leaving the relationship. 
5. Want to be reasonable but also don't want to miss out. 

Normally during a divorce/legal separation, each person has to be open about the value of the assets under their control. House, pension, savings, cars etc . Then normally a 50% split is made . However to make things easier, one person may for example keep the house and the other keep their pension. It is not necessary that each item is split 50%. 
This process can get difficult if relations are poor, so then it is best handled via solicitors.
The legal divorce process and the legal financial settlement are separate, but often progress in tandem with each other.
As others have said he will will have to get a pension value from the NHS pension administrators as part of this process. I think ( not sure ) you have to be actually getting divorced for this to happen.

Marcon

Albermarle said:

 Additionally: Is 50% the best I can aspire to? or can I also request maintenance and higher pension access due to my low salary, low pension, being made redundant at the end of the year? It just feels like I am in such a vulnerable situation at 53 and after years of working towards stability. Needless to say, it is him who is leaving the relationship. 
5. Want to be reasonable but also don't want to miss out. 

Normally during a divorce/legal separation, each person has to be open about the value of the assets under their control. House, pension, savings, cars etc . Then normally a 50% split is made . However to make things easier, one person may for example keep the house and the other keep their pension. It is not necessary that each item is split 50%. 
This process can get difficult if relations are poor, so then it is best handled via solicitors.
The legal divorce process and the legal financial settlement are separate, but often progress in tandem with each other.
As others have said he will will have to get a pension value from the NHS pension administrators as part of this process. I think ( not sure ) you have to be actually getting divorced for this to happen.

Plenty of people request a CETV for divorce purposes, but pension sharing can only be done by court order (assuming you are in England or Wales - the process is different in Scotland and you've not said where you are) if you are divorcing.

crv1963

In my own experience you need your husband to get a CETV as said previously. The best you can do is get a solicitor, and discuss with them the various aspects and details of the process. There are so many variables and so here is probably not going to be terribly helpful.