Pension

[Debster61]

Can I ask a question about this topic ?

You just have

What's your question?

You can, but the Money Matters board might be better for serious desicssuon than AIBU

www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters

my partner has an ex-wife who we have heard can go for half his pension. There are no children involved. She hasn’t worked for over 10 years so he has been supporting her so can she go for half his pension before they are divorced? They have a house together which is up for sale which we know that she is entitled to 50% of.

Most pensions are a marital asset and so potentially yes.

Yes it’s common for pensions to be taken into account when splitting assets. That might not mean they are always split (although you do get pension sharing orders) but it might mean the person with less / no pension might get more of the house, for example.

Do they actually have be divorced before she can claim half of his pension. ?

Thank you. X

It usually has to be claimed as part of the divorce settlement, but she can only access it when he accesses his pension.

Is he already receiving his pension?

It's often advised to sort the financial orders before the decree absolut as doing it afterwards may mean there's no pressure on the other partner to sort in her favour. I sorted mine before a decree absolut was done.

Pension pots are of course taken into account along with all assets

Not true - the whole point of a pension sharing order is that it’s a clean break so if she is awarded part of his pension it would go into an account in her own right which she can then claim when she reaches retirement age and isn’t linked at all to when he takes his benefits.

If a financial order hasn't been agreed and legally signed then pensions are considered marital assets. Normally it's only what's been amassed during the period they have been married. Depends how long they've been married, in some cases if a separation order hasn't been agreed, even the time after they've been separated and even if living with someone else could be taken into consideration

If he can't pay her the amount agreed now and isn't of pensionable age, you can agree to take pension credits from that person, which means she'll benefit from his interest etc on the pension

Usually you need to transfer the relevant percentage into your own personal pension scheme (or set one up for that purpose).

OP I'm assuming this is a DC (money purchase) pension rather than defined benefit/final salary, but if it's the latter you should be aware that if your partner dies before divorcing then the ExW may be entitled to a spouse's pension instead of you.

Depends on the type of pension. My friend's ex had a public service pension which she could not have her share of until he was able to access it (i.e. there was no "pot").

Get it sorted legally asap

No he isn’t claiming yet he is 61

Why is he giving her money?

I work in public sector pensions. The only way this is true is if she had an older style earmarking order. As I said pension sharing orders are a clean break so there’s no longer a tie to what the original member is doing.

It is still possible I believe to have an earmarking order but they’re rarely done now because the clean break pension sharing order route is usually better for all parties.

I am assuming they are not divorced, although you do say ex wife
How lovely by since they split

No they are not divorced yet.

As part of the divorce process, all assets including homes, cars, savings, pensions etc have to be listed and then the starting point is the assets are split 50/50 after debts are paid off.

What your DP may wish to do is take less from the house equity (assuming there is some) to keep more of his pension, but the best thing to do is speak to a solicitor.

How long since they split