Another pension question! Only I have a pension

[Booradley77]

Married 10 years, I have pension of 15 years which is considered good. He never took out a pension despite me asking him to. I earn approx 4,000 more than him per annum. Can he have access to my pension. Is there any way I can prevent this happening?

If he has a solicitor they will no doubt ask for details of your transfer value ( which is basically the current cash value of your pension) , and it will be treated as a marital asset like any other. When you some to an agreement you might say well I’ll take x less if you don’t touch my pension.

Whether it will only relate to the 10 years you were married rather than the 15 years worth of pension that I don’t know but I’m sure someone else who has been in the position will be able to tell you.

Any children?

If no children then - clean break and I don't think he will be entitled to any of your pension as he has had equal opportunity to amass one and has just chosen not to.

Even if it is taken into account, you will be able to agree a slightly smaller share of assets but I don't think this will be necessary if he hasn't had reduced opportunities due to childcare.

I would say that pension would need to be split if the reason one of the spouses has none came from stoping work/limiting career to raise the kids or support the partner with pension’s career.

on what grounds should it not be considered? your pension is money earned during the marriage. in a marriage your finances are pooled. so the pension is part of the pot to be split. that doesn't mean he has to have half of it, that would be complicated. but it has a value and that counts as part of your share. sorry it must be tough when you go through this but unless there's something else of similar value that he is trying to squirrel away to deprive you, you are being unreasonable.

Thanks so much for responses.

We have children. Childcare costs are minimal as my Mum looks after them. He also worked full time and did not give up work at any stage to look after children.

He chose not to put money into pension.

As regarding pooling our money, we never had joint account. He gave over a sum each month to me and I take care of household finances.
This was never enough and has left me in debt, but that’s a story for another day.

Thanks again.

‘Your’ pension is a marital asset so yes, its value will be taken into account in the financial split. But it will be the value of the current pot that’s considered and possibly split, he wont have a hold over you for the future income from it.

ok so that's what we call a "drip feed"

certainly the debts that have run up in your name should equally be considered "joint" as you split the assets too, so that should balance things to some extent.

the principle of 50:50 split is often varied in favour of the person who the kids will be living with too, with the primary goal being to ensure that the children as a first priority, and also both parents, get adequately and safely housed.

he sounds like a git. glad you are getting rid of him. did he spend any of the funds he kept for himself on tangible things like electronic equipment, nice watches, etc? make sure any expensive items that he bought during the marriage and that he is keeping are tallied up as part of his share (assumming that total would be higher than the equivalent luxury goods that you would be keeping)

Only the marital part is split 50%. It is calculated by taking value x (length marriage / length pension). Then divided by two.

It is a grey area however

It’s more likely to get offset against equity or other assets than actually split

Yes it will be shared unless there are other assets to counterbalance it. It will also depend on the percentage split of assets but it will be considered as part of the marital pot.

A friend was similar to you and her husband a waster. She lost 30% of her pension to him and she is still seething about it.

These rights were fought to make women more equal but increasingly being used in favour of men which is right I guess

When my mum and dad divorced, mum got the house and dad got to keep his pension. She had no pension herself, they had planned to live off dad's.

Thank you all for this information. I guess my next step is to see a solicitor or financial advisor.

You do not necessarily have to share pension if its proved that he deliberately did not plan for the future .

It doesnt matter that he chose not to take a pension.

Your pension was an asset built during the marriage so is going to get considered in any financial split

I had to pay XH a half share of my pension accrued during the marriage when we divorced - same situation i.e. he chose not to pay into one, earning plenty of money In his full time job but preferring to spend it on cars, lads holidays, and drinking.