What is a pension sharing order?

A court order that transfers a percentage of one person’s pension to their former spouse or civil partner. The share becomes theirs outright. It either stays in the same scheme, where the scheme allows, or moves to a pension of their choosing.

Is my ex entitled to half my pension?

Not automatically. There’s no rule that pensions are shared equally. What is fair depends on things like the length of the marriage, your ages, your needs, and what each of you contributed, including caring for children. Often the aim is to give you both a similar income in retirement. Sometimes an unequal share, or none at all, is fairer.

Can the State Pension be shared on divorce?

The basic and new State Pension can’t be shared. If either of you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, parts of it, such as the Additional State Pension, may be. Even when it can’t be shared, a big gap in State Pension between you can affect what a fair division of your other pensions looks like.

How long does pension sharing take?

The first step is to obtain pension valuations, and consider whether an expert report is needed. Once an agreement is reached, the court is asked to make the order and the divorce becomes final. After that, the provider has four months to complete the transfer, counted from when it has all the documents and fees it needs.

Who pays the pension provider’s charges?

Most providers charge for carrying out a pension share, and the amount varies a great deal between schemes. Who pays is for the two of you to agree. It should be written into the order rather than left to argue about later.

Can my ex claim on my pension after the divorce?

If you divorced without a financial order approved by the court, a claim can still be made years later, including against a pension. A consent order with a clean break is what brings those claims to an end.

Pension Sharing on Divorce

A pension is often one of the most valuable assets, if not the most valuable asset, a couple owns. It is also the easiest to overlook.

With so much to sort out now, retirement can feel like a problem for another day. But what you decide about a pension during a divorce shapes how you live your life later, and it is very hard to undo. The place to start is knowing what your pensions are really worth.

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How we can help with pension sharing on divorce.

Valuing the pensions

Tracking down every pension, including the State Pension, and checking the figures reflect what each one is really worth.

Pension sharing orders

Transferring an agreed share of a pension into the other person’s name, and seeing it through to completion.

Offsetting and attachment orders

Keeping a pension in return for other assets, or sharing its income later on, with the trade-offs laid out clearly.

Getting the timing right

Making sure the divorce and the pension order happen in the right order, so nobody loses out.

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A pension is a shared asset, whoever’s name is on it.

Plenty of people feel uneasy about asking for part of a pension they never paid into. It helps to think about how that pension was built. If one of you cut back on work to raise children or look after the home, the other could keep working and keep paying in. The law recognises both kinds of contribution.

That doesn’t mean every pension is split down the middle. It means the pensions have to be looked at properly, alongside the home, the savings and everything else, rather than left out because they feel complicated. The same applies if you are ending a civil partnership.

Where we can help

Valuing the pensions

Every provider will give you a figure, called a cash equivalent transfer value (CETV). For some pensions it’s a fair guide. For others, particularly final salary and public sector schemes, it can be misleading. Two pensions with the same CETV can pay very different incomes in retirement. We gather the right information on every pension, including the State Pension, and tell you whether the figures can be relied on.

Offsetting and attachment orders

Offsetting means one of you keeps a pension and the other takes more of something else, often the home. An attachment order means part of the pension is paid to the other person once it starts paying out. These are used far less now. The person receiving the payments has no say over when the pension is drawn, and the payments can stop if they remarry. Either route can be right in the right case, and we’ll make sure you understand the risks before you commit.

Getting the timing right

The final order in your divorce and the pension sharing order need to happen in the right sequence. Suppose the final order comes too early and the pension holder dies before the pension share takes effect. The other person can then lose both the share and any widow’s or widower’s pension. It’s a narrow window, but a serious one. So we will usually advise waiting until the pension order can take effect before the divorce is finalised.

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The house now, or the pension later?

Keeping the family home often feels like the obvious priority, especially with children involved. So it’s common to trade a share of a pension for a bigger share of the house. Sometimes that is exactly the right call.

But a pound in a pension isn’t worth the same as a pound in property. Pension income is taxed, and it may be years before you can touch it. If you are starting your own pension later in life, it also has less time to grow. We make sure you can see, in real terms, what you would be giving up before you decide.

Expert help, when you actually need it.

Not every case needs a pensions expert. The pensions may be modest and straightforward, with you both of a similar age. Then the providers’ figures may be enough, and a report would add cost without adding much. A final salary or public sector pension, a big age gap, or a lot of money held in pensions usually changes that.

In those cases we work with a specialist known as a pensions on divorce expert, usually instructed jointly by you both. They value the pensions and show what each option would mean for your income in retirement. We’ll tell you plainly which camp you fall into. Couples working through Separating Together instruct that expert between them as a matter of course.

Agreed between you, approved by the court.

Most couples settle how their pensions are divided without a contested hearing, and that’s usually quicker and cheaper for everyone. As members of Resolution, we’ll always look for a constructive way through, including Separating Together, where one solicitor advises you both. Whatever you agree, a pension can only be shared by a court order. That is normally part of a consent order covering the whole financial settlement. There’s more on how that works on our consent orders and financial settlements page.

Where agreement isn’t possible, we’ll say so, and consider alternatives to court, such as arbitration or a private route. If court proceedings are necessary, we will represent you properly.

Two people talking over coffee in the Nicholsons office — Separating Together, one solicitor for both of you

Work it out together, with one solicitor.

Not every separation is a war. Where you can both still sit down together, Separating Together lets you use one solicitor between you rather than one each. We use the Resolution Together model: we advise you jointly, in the same room, with nothing held back from either of you. Where a pensions on divorce expert is needed, you instruct one between you and you both see the same report.

It isn’t right for everyone, and we’d rather say so than let you find out the hard way. Where there’s a lot of conflict, or one of you isn’t willing to be open about the money, the usual route is the safer one.

More about Separating Together

Questions about pension sharing on divorce.

Not sure this is the right page?

For the wider financial settlement, including the home and savings, start with our Finances on Divorce or Separation page. For the divorce itself, see Divorce & Separation. If you weren’t married or in a civil partnership, pension sharing isn’t available, and our Cohabitation page is the place to start.

If you would both rather sort things out with one solicitor between you, see Separating Together. All of these sit alongside the rest of our family law work. If you’re not sure which you need, get in touch and we’ll point you to the right one.