I saved for a pension and he didn’t

[Autumnismyseason]

Looking for some advice please. DH and I are separating. We have always earned similar money. I choose to save for a pension since I started working, he didn’t as couldn’t be arsed and had more disposable income for his hobbies and gadgets. Will I have to share my pension with him? We’ve always had separate finances apart from a joint account we pay for mortgage and utilities. So separate current accounts and savings account.

You might, you might not. Depends on age, length of marriage - everything goes in the pot. If you’re in your 30s with a pension pot of 25k you’ll probably keep it - if you’re in you’re 50s with a 200k pot he’ll probably have a claim. And what are your savings? If he has 100k and you have 5k that will be split too. Divorce should leave you on an equal footing going forward, you need to know exactly how much there is to divide.

Probably yes you will need to divide assets including pension.

Yes, pension gets taken into account and is shared. Usually it's the husband sharing his pension, but obviously it's the other way round here. You might be able to pay him extra now to buy him off, maybe out of the equity in the house.

As others
It will go into the pot for consideration
Whether it is split will depend on many factors

Genuine question but what were you expecting he would live on when he retired? I mean does he have other assets etc thought of as his that now are in the family pot.
Get your transfer value and all the costs of transferring out from your pension provider. It can take weeks for them to provide.
Be very aware of the cost to you in £s of fighting what the law considers to be a fair division. (As people above say not necessarily 50/50 but unlikely to be 0/100)
Also make yourself aware of the admin cost of transferring pension assets that the pension company charge.
If you have other assets/things you might claim then offsetting them against your pension might be a good idea.
Don't be pushed by a solicitor to pursue it ruthlessly if the monetary outcome isn't that huge. Only they win.

Thanks all for your replies. His father has left him his house so he’s always seen that as his pension pot. I don’t have anything to inherit so I’ve always been sensible and saved.

Well his fathers house goes into the pot too surely? So you negotiate and as an example, you keep your pension he keeps his fathers house.

Yes pensions are in the joint pot, but not at 100% cash value. They are complicated.
You may find it’s worth a lot less at the moment. My EX husbands pension pot, will have taken a significant drop this year.

His fathers house goes into the pot, if you mean he’s already inherited it. If not, then it won’t be considered