Divorcing with no assets but pension

[DLM1983]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has experience of divorcing when there is no property or assets and only a pension on one side. Dad earns 48k and Mum is on a low income and benefits. There are 2 children aged 8 and 12. Married for 5 years together for 10 approx. What are the chances of spousal maintenance or lump sum being ordered. Thanks

Consult a solicitor if you want a genuine answer to that question.

There won't be a lump sum or spousal on his salary, it's far too low. SM is generally only awarded in long marriages where the DH earns over £100k.

Go online and put his salary into the child maintenance calculator, that will tell you the amount he will legally be obligated to pay you monthly. That's all you're entitled to.

Cms and pension may be split

CMS being child maintenance...how can that be split?

Just pension split sorry, cms will depend on child arrangements

Thank you. Can the respondent initiate mediation? My partner made contact with a mediator who contacted his ex (petitioner) and she wasn't happy about him trying to arrange mediation! Apparently she has already contacted one but he is yet to hear anything!

Similar situation to my DH and his ex. The only asset was his pension, there was joint marital debt. DH earned around £40k and his ex is on benefits, 2 kids. On the consent order my DH gave her half of the his pension for the years they were married (8 years so she had 4) into a pension sharing order. Then he agreed to pay off most of the debt. It went though the court with no issue at all.
Just make sure you include everything on the form, even if it seems insignificant. DH had already paid a couple of things off by the time they did the consent order it but mentioned it. if ExW had furniture from the family home, a car paid for etc etc put it all down. Judge just wants to see it’s all fair.

This is really helpful, thank you. I presume he didn't have to pay a lump sum or spousal maintenance? Did they do mediation or was it amicable?

You can’t have a lump sum if there are no assets to get it from.

@DLM1983 no immediate lump sum. She will get a lump sum as part of her pension sharing order when she gets to pension age. No spousal maintenance either, he just put that he will pay child maintenance as per the calculator until the kids leave full time education, and increase it inline with promotions.
They didn’t do mediation no, but I think sometimes not doing it can work against you as the judge worries that the higher earner is trying to do the lower earner out of what they are entitled to. As long as your DP is fair it shouldn’t be an issue. I should say as well that he was with his ex for 16 years but still only had to share half of pension from the time they were married (8 years by the time the divorce completed).

The judge only awarded one years pension to my partners ex. Most of it was accrued prior to them meeting.

He only started paying into his pension 2 years before they separated but they've been separated for 5 years. So it would be fair to offer half of his pension value?

Get proper legal advice. Nobody on here knows the details and can properly advise.

@Justbecause88 Was this agreed between themselves or at a hearing?

@DLM1983 between themselves. He told her he would give her half of the time they were married and she didn’t argue. DH had a 30min free chat when he started the divorce proceedings and was told to sort it between themselves as much as possible. There is absolutely no point getting expensive solicitors involved when there are no assets to split. It’s just a waste of money for both parties. The 2 of them need to sit down and fill in the consent form together. Has your DPs ex mentioned wanting spousal support?

She is not wanting to discuss anything. She wants him to start the conversation. She said she will sort mediation 2 months ago.but he hasn't heard anything so he contacted one. When the mediator phones her, she wasn't happy and said he can't start the mediation! He's the respondent but been told he can initiate it. Anyway, she said she has contacted a mediator buy he hasn't heard anything so that could be a lie.

There are a lot of women of late who have been split from the ex for a while, going for spousal maintenance off husband earning between £40-£50k and where are there no assets but pension.

His pension will be split, as will his ex partners if she has one tho it’s very unlikely she will get maintenance and rightly so. Still, get it locked down as soon as you can

@DLM1983

The reality is no one can give you a definitive when they are not legally qualified and don't know the details.

What I would suggest is for someone earning below £50k and not even paying higher rate tax, and also liable for CMS is not likely to be paying any spousal maintenance. Spousal is very rare and usually for high earners. For example my friend is a high earning doctor and the judge didn't want to award spousal and his ex was warned not to expect it either

@MarieG10 thank you, that's really helpful.

So would she only be entitled to a percentage of the pension from when they were married up to when they separated or point of divorce? Been separated 5 years.