Why has my solicitor asked for my (x) h pension value?

[mpuddleduck]

I'm trying to reach an agreement with husband since we seperated 2 years ago on splitting finances.
We have no debt, some funds and a car in his name, although he let me carry on using it.
My solicitor has asked for the value of his pension, why is this?
Husband just wanted to split our saved money 50/50, and I don't know if this would be a better option, as it seems Iam unlikely to get a better offer than 50/50 anyway and my legal bill is taking all my money.

[prh47bridge]

His pension fund is one of the assets to be taken into account when sorting out the split. There may be a significant sum of money in his pension. You can choose to balance that against another asset, or you can agree that you will receive a proportion of his pension when he eventually receives it, or the pension fund can be split between you.

[mumoverseas]

also agree, sometimes a pension fund can be the biggest asset in the 'pot'.

[Takeresponsibility]

Well it depends how long you were married,how old you are, did you sacrifice your career/potential earnings/reduce your pension pot etc by giving up work, going part time, not taking promotion because you were doing things to help him in his career? You may for example have stayed at home to bring up joint children, changed jobs to move with him to follow his career path etc.

As with so many things in divorce it all depends on your particular circumstances, but the pensions should go into the pot along with all the other assets.

[mpuddleduck]

Thank you, I guess my question now is would it just be split between us as with the other funds? could I just suggest that is what we do rather than spending hundreds on letters to and fro deciding what funds we had when we split. (its all very transparent)
We were married for 16 years, have 3 children and yes I went part time and took jobs that fitted in with looking after the children.
Could I suggest to my solicitor he just writes a letter asking for a 60/40 split and half the pension fund?

[Collaborate]

Yes, you can, but you can't sign off on any agreement until you have the figures. Maybe there's more than 1 pension. You don't want half of each as the sharing fees charged by the pension companies may be too high. It's not expensive to wait while the valuations are obtained. If it's all very transparent do you have the Cash Equivalents of all pensions now to give the solicitors? If not, then it's not very transparent, is it? You might know who the pensions are with, but unless you know their values you know very little about them.