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I have a pension sharing order as I am now divorced. I want to put my ex husbands pension into my current pension. My current pension provider said that I need financial advice. Can this be done?

Yes it can. But some providers insist that you receive financial advice before they will allow the pension share to be paid in. If you can confirm the details of the schemes and the amounts involved I will be able to guide you further.

My ex and I divorced earlier this year, decree absolute granted. I have an NHS pension, and had agreed to share this, transferring 25% of the cash equivalent to him. An annex the court order was stamped, but the NHS pension agency has had no notification?

Yes, it should have been sent from the court. I would ask for a copy and send it directly. In addition, I would speak to your ex and ensure that he has completed the necessary paperwork for the NHS. One final thing might be that the implementation fee is outstanding. The pension sharing order will confirm how much each of you needs to pay.

If I am already drawing my pension has my divorcing wife any rights to it?

Yes, I would expect it to be considered in the financial settlement like all the other assets and income. How much it might be shared by will depend upon the facts, circumstances and needs of the parties / marriage.

Would I be able to use the pension settlement to buy a home?

It is not possible to use the whole of the pension share on divorce to purchase a home. It cannot be released for cash 100% and it is not possible to buy a house within a pension.

It is possible to take a pension commencement lump sum of up to 25% of the cash equivalent. You will need to be age 55 or over to do so.

Therefore, if you need cash for a house you may wish to negotiate to offset your share of the pension cash equivalent against house equity or any other assets. Be mindful of your income needs in retirement though.

What happens if an ex spouse goes over the 4 months allowed to implement a pension sharing order?

In theory they are in contempt of a court order. But invariably there is no funny stuff going on in these situations. Usually there is a good reason why the pension has not been implemented in a timely manner. Common reasons are:

Court paperwork missing, incomplete or incorrect.
Outstanding charges
No indication of where the pension share is to be transferred.

In truth there can be a number of reasons why. I would speak to the pension scheme involved and find out what is happening.

Am I correct in assuming that the state retirement pension is not divided upon divorce?

Partly correct. Actually the state retirement pension is made up of two parts. The first part is the basic state pension and this cannot be shared. However, it is possibly for your ex spouse to substitute your records for theirs if this gives them a better pension figure. There is no cost to either party in doing this.

The second part is known as second state pension and this can be shared. Form BR 20 provides the cash equivalent which can be used in any pension sharing negotiations.

Confused on pension sharing. My husband has the pension which I am considering to either take a share of or have the home. If I were to re-marry would I lose the pension rights and if my current husband dies does the pension end there or will it continue?

If you agree to pension sharing and a part of the pension is transferred into your name then you will not lose the pension rights on remarriage nor should he die.

Is a pension split between partners in a divorce settlement and if so how is it split and if savings and shares are involved in one name only are proceeds split equally?

Yes. All assets potentially form part of the matrimonial split to be divided equally. How it is then subsequently divided will be based on the facts of the marriage and the circumstances and needs of the parties.

How long after being divorced does my ex wife have to obtain a pension sharing order or is there no time limit on getting a pension sharing order?

Assuming you have agreed the financial settlement and this is documented in a court stamped consent order then all future claims should be discharged.

However, if you have not settled the finances and have only dealt with the divorce and have a decree absolute then in theory there is no time limit on her bringing a claim.

My husband and I both have pensions – we know the CETV. To calculate what one person owes the other is it simply the difference between the two? Should we be adjusting for the amount of income each will receive when the pensions are put into payment?

It depends if you want to achieve equality of the capital or equality of the income from the pensions. Where two cash equivalents are for exactly the same scheme then this is a like for like comparison.

If capital equalisation is the goal then dividing on this basis is fine as each £1 of cash equivalent is as valuable as the other. But most couples have different pensions and therefore, how do you decide whether they are as valuable as each other. For example, a gold plated public sector pension valued at £100,000 would be more valuable than a personal pension plan worth £100,000. So agreement on the true cash equivalents will be needed otherwise a straight split would be unequitable.

As for income equalisation this looks at what the pensions will pay out in the future and looks to equalise the cash equivalent values so that each person receives the same amount of income at a certain point in the future.

So it depends on what you are trying to achieve.

I will be getting a pension sharing order for part of my husband’s pension and my NHS pension will not accept a transfer. Should I ask for an internal transfer or accept an external transfer to a personal pension scheme? I have the choice.

Unfortunately, the NHS will not accept a pension sharing transfer. Therefore, you will need to decide between the benefits on offer from the existing pension scheme via the internal option or those on offer from an external transfer to a personal pension scheme.

I suggest that you check what benefits are on offer for the internal transfer. If the benefits are defined (like final salary ones) then it is highly likely to be in your best interests to take this option. Ask the pension scheme for an illustration of benefits.

Alternatively, they could be money purchase and you may be given a default option. If so ensure that the costs of this option are better than those available externally.

Finally, some internal options have a defined retirement age, say age 60, and if you require the benefits earlier at age 55 for example, then a reduction of benefit is applied for early payment. In some instances trustees have discretion as to allow the early payment of benefits. Make sure this meets with your retirement needs.

If a pension is in payment would a soon to be ex wife be able to claim part of that pension, or is it necessary to offset with say a lump sum from joint asset such as a house?

Yes a pension in payment can be subject to a pension sharing order. On divorce a cash equivalent value can be requested for divorce purposes.

You may wish to consider offsetting its value to retain more of the equity. I would consider and satisfy yourself that you are going to be able to provide yourself with income in retirement.