Teachers pension on divorce CETV - help!

[Mumof3confused]

Ex has a TP. We need an updated pensions expert report (last one a year old, awarded me 46% if that’s relevant. Obviously his pot has been growing over the past 12m. I have a tiny pension which has not changed in value. We are just one year apart in age.

I’m now hearing all sorts of worrying information about TP not providing CETV’s. We have a final hearing due in a couple of months and a court order stating that an updated pensions report is needed.

What happens if/when this report is not ready for the final hearing? Will it be

1. postponed (this would be an absolute disaster)
2. will they go with old report (16 months old by this point)
3. decide that split will be as per pensions expert report once ready (another disaster as this could take forever!)
4. Something else?

I just want to get this over with but his side love a delay. Will the court allow the hearing to be delayed for this reason if the other side request it? Surely this is affecting loads of cases right now and will cause a massive backlog and devastation if it means divorces are put on hold?!

Any intel on when the TP issue might be resolved?

NHS pension here and the old CETV was offered but needed an expert to decide how the split will go.

The judge settled everything else and stamped it with pensions outstanding. We have to return to get they also stamped off when it's been sorted.

Then the final decree absolute and done and dusted.

It's possible one side could push for a delay but the judge agreed for this not to be held up

@Washed are you saying that in your case one party asked to defer and the judge said the hearing should go ahead anyway?

I’d be careful as CETVs can go down as well as up. The actual teacher pension increases each year, but CETVs are based on complex calculations.

The updated repost is court ordered so it’s not an option.

Yes that was pretty much the crux of it.

I later saw the judge and the other aides's solicitor chatting and laughing as they walk to the closest by pub for lunch and couldn't help wonder how that is why they got their request!

How does it sometimes go down?

@Washed the CETV is calculated as the amount TP need to hold to pay your pension, so it goes down and up depending on market valuations, interest rates etc, I'd guess it's probably lower now than 16 months ago

So could that mean I get an unfair deal as a result? (Sorry OP, hope this doesn't feel like hijacking's your thread - some of this may be relevant?)

Pension values go up and down, with TP especially it can make a big difference due to some issues around changes made to the scheme (look up McCloud ruling). But generally CETVs have fallen recently due to war, interest rates etc

However, if on TP they are also paying in large sums each month. Surely that also has an impact.

And Liz Truss! Don’t forget that major disruption to pensions.

@Washed it won't be unfair if you are getting a % - it's just the absolute amount may change. Don't forget it's an amount you should be putting into another pension and the cost of that should vary in same way cetv does.

My ex and I are currently at consent order stage but because of the revaluation of the schemes and now the Mcloud regs haven’t been able to get updated CEV. We’re both in the LGPS and were happy to continue with the percentage transfer as agreed on the old valuation. Hopefully the court will accept that🤷‍♀️

@TheOnlyAletheia when will you find out?

The D81 has just been filed so maybe a couple of weeks?

Would be very interested to know if you've heard back yet, I'm in the same position; struggling to get CETV from Teachers Pension and need to decide what figure to write down if we cab get hold of them!

Any other teachers affected by the delay in getting CETV estimates for The Teacher Pension Scheme? I have now written to the complaints department as no timescales or plan in place.

Have had no response other than to say it’s been delayed.

Same for me. I asked on the phone what I could do and it was suggested I sent a complaint letter, which I did today. Hoping courts will enable divorce financial orders to move on without this.

I’ve asked the pension divorce expert who is preparing our report to chase them and say that it’s urgent because we have a hearing coming up. I just can’t believe that my ex’s solicitors advised him to delay asking for the CETV, I kept pushing and pushing!

CETVs go up and down. When I was getting divorced we were quoted a certain value at the outset. . As time passed we needed a more up to date one and in the end the actual value given was less on the day of the actual transfer by a considerable amount (due to world events at the time) . My IFA lodged a complaint with the pension company in respect of their lax performance ( as she had all the requests etc) and they agreed to settle with a further financial sum. It is very important to keep track of all the correspondence with pension companies.

In this instance it’s my ex who has the pension, not me. It’s a teachers pension scheme and he has paid in considerable sums since the last CETV 2 years ago. I don’t really care what it says if I’m honest I just want the report so that we can get everything signed off!

Hi. Also struggling with this, requested CETV for my teacher pension in late September and so far have only been told there are delays. How long have you been waiting?

Try not to panic (easier said then done). If you got an initial report and updated report can be turned round relatively quickly.

. Are you legally represented or just your ex?

In terms of what happens if you go to a final hearing without an updated report (either because no CETV came in or one came in too late for report to be prepared) the court could adjourn (but as you’ve said probably would be reluctant to do this given backlogs but also they don’t want parties waiting for years), they could crack on based on 46% (of whatever the fund is at date of order), they could say 46% of whatever cetv a year ago (effectively the old report and discount further contributions). A lot will depend on parties views, if both parties happy to crack on and more importantly have an agreement on how to proceed courts less likely to adjourn off (but they could).

The expert may be able to do something without the cetv based on the old valuation, what your ex has paid in last year. It wouldn’t be perfect but would probably not be far off

If you are legally represented I would be pushing your sols on this they should be chasing and also speaking to other side about alternatives. i would be wanting to find out from pensions expert: (a) what is the last date for getting the cetv they can produce report and (b) in the absence of the update could they update the report (with caveats) if ex gives information of payments made, and again what date that would be. Then speak to your ex and try and agree a plan in terms of mostly importantly are they chasing, and b are they happy to agree an alternative plan so hearing can take place.

You should be if as you say you only have a tiny pension. It is the % that is important from the auditor. As I said the actual amount you will not know exactly until the day they transfer it.