Government Pension after Divorce

AuntyJean

Long winded, sorry, but background may be needed to assist with help.

I have been married for 32 years but separated for the last eight.

Having only worked part time for a number of years before taking on full time employment I paid only the Married Women's contribution and have continued to do so.

This means that when I retire I do not get a State Pension in my own right (well, according to the last application several years ago my Pension was 17pence per week). I was given to understand that I could receive a Pension though based on my husbands contributions once he retired (he is 5 years older than me, I will be 50 this year).

Rather than change over to 'normal' NIC's I decided to invest the £300-£400 annual saving (by paying only Married Womens NIC's) into property and with my partner we bought a holiday chalet which we let and plan to sell for retirement funds.

Now, my husband wants to sell the 'marital home' (I will buy out his half hopefully) but also wants a divorce (being pressured by his new partner and mine also).

The question I am asking is will I still be entitled to a State Pension based on my ex-husbands contributions for the years we were married, when I retire?

CIS

you will entitled to state pension based on your husbands record, often better than that which you would get on your own record.

When the pension is calculated they look at two methods of calculation 'substitution' to help your record along.

1) your record from 6 april before your 16th birtday until 5th april prior to marriage
then;
your husbands records from 6th april after marriage to 5th april after divorce
then;
your record record from 6th april after divorce to date.

2) your husbands record from 6th april prior to his 16th birthday until 5th april prior to divorce
then;
your recod from 6th april after divorce to date

uisng the second method, if you are older than your husband, they also use your own record from 6th april prior to your 16th birthday up until 5th april prior to your husbands 16th birthday.

If you have only paid MWRRE (small stamp) you will probbaly rely on the second method, but this depends on your husbands record during this period, the first method mainly works for those women working either side of the marriage but not during it

If you apply for a state pension forecast and tell them you are expecting to get divorced theycan give you a forecast which automatically takes in to account the best method.

Call 0845 3000 168 or apply online using the pension service website

sleepless_saver

The position would be different if you remarried before state pension age. If you did, it would be your new husband's contributions that would be used in calculating your entitlement.

CIS

thats true, but you woul dbe back to square 1 of relying on someone elses contributions for the maried womans pension, max of 60% only, with substitution you could get up to a full pension.

Debt_Free_Chick

AuntyJean - does your husband have a pension as well - either private, or company?

If so, you should get a share of that too on divorce. His pension will pay a lump sum to a pension plan of your choice. If you have no private pension plan, you'll need to set one up for this purpose.

Of course, you could agree to have other assets instead of a share of his pension, but give it some thought. Don't simply be attracted to the thought of more cash now, if you have no other means of income in retirement.

Regards

CIS

yeah that slipped my mind this morning, theres a system in place called pension sharing on divorce, on top of the state pension being based on his national insurance record your entiled to ask a judge for a share order to award you part of his pension on top of our own pension. The saame can also be done with private/occupational pensions etc.

Contact state pension forecasting for information on state pension sharing

AuntyJean

Thank you to everyone for your help.

The problems with Pension Sharing are

a) He does not have much in the way of Private or Company Pensions (he was in and out of work so often)
b) I probably have better Company Pensions than he does (although only going since about 1986) and he would be able to share mine
c) I was hoping to go for the DIY divorce without complications.

Hence the reason I was asking before I agree to the divorce.

If we both re-marry before Pension age (which will be in 15 year time for me as I have to work until 65 and he is 5 years older than me), will I lose out?

CIS

if you have a low pension in your own right you will loose out as the best you can get if you re-marry/stay married is 60%, as a divorced woman you can get up to 100%.

If you ring for a forecast and tell them your thinking of divorce they can give you a pension forecast for you as a married person and as a divorced person so taht you can compare the options.

margaretclare

Aunty Jean, are you sure you wouldn't be better off switching to full NI contributions now? You say you have another 15 years to work. So you're 50 now. The rules are changing for anyone born after 1950 - you'll no longer have the option to retire on pension @ 60 as now.

CIS's reply above seems to be condemning you never to be able to remarry. You say you have a better employment pension than your present husband so obviously you want to hang on to that and not have to share it. When you speak to the pensions people about a forecast you could ask about switching to full NI contributions - would it be in your best interests or not? Added to your former record (i.e. before you married) another 15 years' contributions could make a difference.

I never paid the reduced married women's contributions - I think I could see, even all those years ago, that it was a con. When I was widowed in 1992 I got widow's pension based on my late husband's record but then changed to retirement pension in my own right, and got a better deal. I married again in 2002 and getting married has made no difference at all to my pension income - I don't have to depend on my present husband for 60%, I get exactly the same basic as he gets.

Aunty Margaret

AuntyJean

margaretclare wrote:

Aunty Jean, are you sure you wouldn't be better off switching to full NI contributions now? You say you have another 15 years to work. So you're 50 now. The rules are changing for anyone born after 1950 - you'll no longer have the option to retire on pension @ 60 as now.

I looked into that and decided that it was better to invest in property to sell when I reach pensionable age. I just missed out (will be 50 in Oct) so have to work until 65. Besides which, if I die, my daughter will inherit the property I have invested in, whereas no-one will get my Pension (my Company Pensions are signed over to my daughter).

I do not yet plan on re-marrying. Have lived with common-law (hate that word) spouse for 8 years but not sure if I want to marry again.

EdInvestor

What is the position regarding Serps/S2P? If you pay the married women's stamp, presumably you miss out on this completely, and also cannot contract out and get the free rebate money?

BTW to buy the basic state pension of 82 quid a week index-linked would cost 92,000 pounds for a woman of 65 on the open market.

That's before we look at the extra you'd have to pay for S2P which is included in the NI contributions.