Partial Pension Offsetting

[TheGoldOtter]

Hello
Looking for real world advice from people who have done partial pension offsetting
We've had an actuary report - for 50% share of pension pot my ex has to give me £130K of his pensions
I do NOT have enough cash or mortgage capacity to be able to buy a suitable house for me and 3 kids
Ex says that is not his problem
I fought to have pension offsetting included in the actuary report as I knew this was a fair way for me to get the extra £25K that I need to not be short
He doesn't want to do it
How can I make him see it's the right thing to do? His suggestion is he gives me a 'long term loan' where by he gives me less CMS each month

I know I know
Even as I type it out it sounds crazy (and more than a little controlling)

Anyone got any advice
Have people done partial offsetting to help boost cash reserves

Am tempted to just tell him I need more equity and he'll just have to deal with it!
I thought I was doing the fair thing by offering pension offsetting :(

What is the value of the other assets to be split? Have you both filled out your Form E? Are you using a solicitor or negotiating through a mediator?

Well it depends on many factors as to whether it’s fair or not. None of which we know here.

while the courts will want to see you housed it doesn’t have to be owned /mortgaged.

but it will depend on what assets there are, your ages and earnings potential, length of marriage etc etc to reach an overall balanced and fair outcome

HE would be unwise to forgo paying cms to loan you capital and at any time you could simply put a claim im To cms and they award based on his earnings and overnights. It’s that sinple

The way you've written this here, and I could be missing relevant context, it sounds like:

You've paid out money to get a detailed pension report to calculate a 50% share, and then turned around and said it was a negotiating tactic to get more cash now.
He's probably take offence and said, you've made your bed, go lie in it. (and if pensions are some way off in years, that's easy to do).

I would suggest that some kind of mediation with a third party (or solicitors) might help you to both dig yourselves out of this possible impasse.

?

What does partial offsetting a pension mean? Does it mean you accept less money for it in return for cash now?

Surely if the pension is £100k then your share is £50k?

I do NOT have enough cash or mortgage capacity to be able to buy a suitable house for me and 3 kids
Ex says that is not his problem

Kindly, he may well be right.

His suggestion is he gives me a 'long term loan' where by he gives me less CMS each month
I know I know

Income isn't a given though, anything could happen. Plus the mortgage company probably wouldn't take such payments into consideration anyway.

Is there actually enough money in the pot for you both to come away with mortgaged home? What percentage of the assets have you offered him?

We initially agreed a 50/50 split of house equity and savings
We then talked this through at mediation and the mediator urged me to see a financial advisor to check that this split would be enough to house me and the kids
So I did, and discovered that with going to my maximum mortgage capacity, that would allow me to buy a 3 bed home
So I went back and asked for a 60/40 split of the house equity
He declined that offer - telling me the 4 of us would survive just fine in a 3 bed house (I have the kids 70% of the time)
So I suggested offsetting his pension to get the cash I needed for a deposit on a larger property - he agreed to include the calculations for offsetting in the pension report - it cost us extra!

Since getting the pension report back, I have got a promotion, so my mortgage capacity has increased by 20K. But........I still need 25K to get that 4th bedroom.

He doesn't want to give it to me through offsetting but rather through a 'loan' from his cash assets
I will have to pay him back
He's NOT suggesting a 60/40 split of the equity

I'm pretty certain a judge would not sign this off!
I can't for the life of me see why he doesn't want to keep more of his pension?
He's not giving me 'free' money, and I'm actually asking for less since I got the promotion
His mortgage capacity is much larger than mine as he earns more so he can buy a 4 bed house no problem (but will have bigger mortgage payments)

Am I missing something?

Yes - but I would take less than that 50K for him to give me cash instead
So that way I get the money now, for a house deposit, rather than it only going into a pension pot

Thanks for clarifying. So, in your position, I would try to play the long game. Carry on with mediation, and at each session, calmly state that you are requesting some of the pension in cash as you need it to house your children adequately. Don't get drawn into arguments -- just calmly state your request over and over, and hold your line. It's a perfectly reasonable request. Hopefully, he'll get bored and give in. Good luck.

And don't waste your time trying to get him to understand what's 'right'. Only discuss it at mediation with a third party present. As a negotiating tactic, I would tell him you've been advised to request your whole share of the pension as cash. And then 'allow' yourself to be negotiated down to just taking 25k as cash, and the rest as a pension transfer (whatever the offset might be). But do not give up whatever total transfer/offset you're entitled to -- this is your future.

I would add to that - you can calmly state that you either want part of pension in cash, OR a larger share of equity. And keep repeating - that it is to appropriately house the children.
You don't need to discuss with him if kids can fit into 3BR. You don't need to convince him that it makes sense.
Just keep stating your case.
And - if mediation does not progress - write up your offer to him and proceed to court. You already have most of the documents and forms. You can self-represent.