Considering legal advice on ex-husband’s pension

[Anonymouseky]

I split from my ex husband about 6 years ago. We divorced about 4 years ago. We were married for 6 years, together for 12. I supported his career, moved my whole life to another UK based country. I gave up my job and had to start again somewhere else. I had career aspirations myself and, had I followed these aspirations, I would have been a very higher earner now. He is a very high earner. He talked me out of it as he wanted me to move to be near him. We ended up marrying and having kids. He built up a good pension which I didn’t go for in the divorce. This has enabled him to consider an early retirement. He is now talking about 50% custody. Now the hard work is done and he has his pension pot to look forward to. I must admit, I am sickened by this. The whole reason he can do this is because of my sacrifices. He has our children 2-3 days a week anyway but I feel he is pushing for 50% because he wants to reduce maintenance. I’m now considering taking legal advice re the pension. We didn’t sign a financial order in the divorce. I wouldn’t have gone for the pension but feel I have been pushed. Has anyone done this before? We’ve been divorced a few years now, but he has clearly benefitted from my sacrifices. I’m very annoyed that now the hard work is over with the kids, and now it suits him, he suddenly wants the kids more.

If the divorce went through 4 years ago then that ship has likely sailed in regards to a financial claim but seek formal legal advice just in case I’m mistaken

You did have a very short marriage. I knew somebody who's ex owned property and she claimed a few years after the divorce. But that was a long marriage. However, see a solicitor to see what your chances are.

Six years married and kids is not “very short”.

So no financial settlement?

It might not be too late if there’s no financial order in place. All this is sorted out when you finalise the finalise the finance agreement in court. Pensions and property are all in the marital finances pot. So is yours an official agreement on finances or not? It’s separate from the divorce. If you agreed he kept his pension snd didn’t take any advice, it’s a bit late now and there’s a financial order. If there’s no agreement , see a solicitor. You might have been poorly advised of course!

Lots of friends who separated got the house and he got the pension. Is that the case with you? Just like his pension appreciated so did the value of property. Could you down size and reduce equity?

Yes, a marriage of 6 years is not that long.

However, the OP says in her first post they were together for 12 years.

OP - please do take legal advice. Most family solicitors offer a free half hour initial consultation - but you might be happy to pay around £300 for one hour's full advice of a pensions specialist.

I don't know the answer for you myself - but do take advice.

It must be so galling and annoying that he's now able to take early retirement and swoop in on the easier end of childcare, after you've done the hard graft for years.

And especially galling if you have to continue to work whilst he now swans around like "super daddy" due to being retired.

Hope you get good advice. 👍

With my ex's pension, I was only entitled to claim against it for the years we were married. The years we lived together and had children before marriage didn't count. So if your ex's is the same, you might not be entitled to much.

If there is no financial order you can go after his pension.

Talk to a solicitir and go to court.

You facilitated his career and he should pay you for that.

There’s no “claim” against a pension as such. The pension goes in the marital pot. If op had saved up more before marriage and spent that on the house, that’s not normally ring fenced. A pension can be in a short marriage but not if that’s patently unfair. It depends on the financial order or lack of one. Where is Op living and what’s happened to the house?

I was able to take 1/2 of all his pension from when we started living together.

At the time of divorce did you agree and sign a financial consent order? If so, you can't change your mind and want more. If not, then there's a possiblity you could argue for a new or revised settlement I believe.

You won’t get half his pension for a 6 year marriage. Did you finalise the financial elements?

Thanks all, we didn’t sign a financial order. We didn’t see a solicitor and just sorted it out amongst ourselves. Though I thought it unfair at the time, I wanted to keep things amicable for the kids’ sake. The house was sold and we each took a proportion. He took a larger proportion as some of his inheritance was wrapped up in it, which I thought was fair enough. Throughout our marriage and since the divorce he made extra payments into his pension, which of course meant reduced maintenance payments and tax paid. He has been crafty with money. There is such a difference between our incomes that I believe he would likely still need to pay child maintenance if it was 50/50. I’m just really disappointed in him for pushing 50/50 after everything I’ve done and sacrificed. I feel his drive to do that is mainly financial and part spite.

Also, does anyone know if I could pursue part of the pension once he has retired early and started claiming it? Thank you

I am currently getting divorced and my solicitor advised a financial order (as they all do).
She said she had recently had a case where someome made a claim 30 years after divorce as there was no financial order, so I reckon you have a good case for a fair share of the marital assets, but it might be a long slog if most of his pension was built up outside of the marriage and he put in a bigger share for the house.

Well I know a pension can be split in a divorce even after that situation.,

@Anonymouseky Yoy need to get your hard hat on and see a solicitor. You have been incredibly naïve. His pension should be part of the financial order as if is a marital asset! The children are very different. Don’t carry on doing nothing. Don’t agree 50:50 either. It’s his way of cutting down what he pays. It will be nothing! If dc are settled and you are resident parent facilitating school etc, do not agree to the disruption so he gets to pay less. See a solicitor and get started or you will be shafted again! His pension IS a marital asset!

@Anonymouseky You can still pursue a claim even if he takes early retirement

Can you afford the legal bills to pursue this? Because he will probably fight it tooth and nail. You could end up with a large legal bill at the end of it for a small proportion of his pension that you can't claim until you hit pension age.

It's good to weigh everything up objectively (cost to pursue Vs what you will gain). If the sums add up then it could be worth a try.

Just to add solicitors will tell you to pursue it but just bear in mind they will be making money either way from you with no guaranteed outcome. No solicitor can tell you exactly what will happen.

@Lynxie She’s no option! There’s no financial settlement. It’s vital that there is. Yes, she might need to throw some money at it but this pension MUST be in the marital pot! It’s not ring fenced for ex. All savings accrued during the marriage too. The op needs to get on with it. There must be a fair division of assets and at the moment it’s not fair because DH has substantially more.

I can understand why you’re feeling angry about it, especially if you made significant sacrifices during the marriage. As there was no financial order, I’d definitely speak to a family solicitor before assuming the matter is completely closed. They can tell you whether there’s still anything that can be done regarding the pension.

You'll need a solicitor but yes you could make a claim and go about finally getting a financial order put into place. But this will have to include all the assets you had - not just the pension.
How do you know he's been making extra contributions to the pension since you divorced?? I think its likely that any contributions made since the divorce will be excluded form any financial split now - but how either of you will prove all this I don't know. Your husband will likely have to get his pension provider to calculate the value of the pension at the time you guys divorced.

You've both been a bit naive - and is precisely why solicitors prefer a clean break and financial settlement all at the same time. How old are the kids? I'm assuming they must be at least teenagers if your ex is retiring so they really should be deciding where they prefer to live.

Get legal advice, but I would also encourage you to step back a bit and think about what is motivating you here. You sound very angry still, after many years of divorce, that he will be able to take a more active role in parenting.

Teenagers DO need a lot of parenting, and if he is now able to take some of that on, that might be amazing for them and for him. What's your children's relationship with him like? Do they want to spend more time with him?

What was the reasoning behind not separating yourselves financially at the time of divorce? Also, which UK country do you live in?

6 years isn’t a long marriage (I understand it’s not short, but the courts see long generally as 10 years plus)

I think you have a good chance of getting some of the 6 years worth of pension.

you may also both have a claiM on each others current assets, assuming neither is remarried ie he can go after half your house and vice versa.

I would see a solicitor for advice only- maybe am initial letter. If you use a solicitor for everything it will cost a fortune

you're likely to need to attend mediation and if not settled go to court and get your financial order

hes mental not to have got a financial order at the time.

out of interest why do you think you’d be a very high earner now if you didn’t do any work? This sounds a bit mad.