Am I entitled to his pension

I am separating from my husband of 5 years. The split is because he had an affair 2 years ago and I have tried to forgive and move on. I never throw the affair back in his face but when he is drunk (which is quite often) he brings it up and the row start. He now wants us to split. The house is being sold and will be split 50/50. He has asked me not to go for his private pension. He is 52 and I am 54. His pension is at the moment around £220,000. I have no pension. I obviously need all the money I can get to buy a place of my own, and why should I scrimp and save just so he has his full pension. He intend to retire at 55. I need to find out if a) I am entitled to some of his pension and b) how much? I then could give him the choice of giving me more from the sale of the property rather than touch his pension, but I don't want to short change myself. Could anybody give me an indication if I would be entitled to his pension? His pension pot before we married was around £80,000. We have been together 13 years, married for 5. Thank you.

Generally you would look at the amount of the pension accrued during the marriage as a percentage of the total length of the pension fund.

For instance, if the pension fund had been running for 26 years, you would be able to make a claim on 50% of the pension fund (i.e. for the 13 years that you have been together). So, using those figures:-

Your husband gets the first 50% and 50% of the remaining fund

You would get the other 50% of the remaining fund.

This would give you a 25% share of the entire fund.

However, things are not usually so simple. It might be the case that an unequal share of the assets is appropriate which depends upon health, earnings capacity and, to a diminishing extent as the marriage (which include pre-marital cohabitation) grows longer, the capital contribution to the asset base.

There is also the issue of whether there should be an adjustment depending upon your husband's intention to retire early. The minimum statutory retirement age is 60 and whilst your husband might be able to draw down on his pension when he is 55, any pension share that you have might not be accessible until you are 60. The pension Trustees will have their own rules and you should check this issue.

Charles

Thank you Charles. Even though we have been together 13 years, we have only been married for 5 years. So am I right in presuming I could only claim for the years we were married. To be honest I would be quite happy to receive an extra £30k from the house proceedings rather than go for his pension. But I cant work out whether then would be more than I would be entitled from his pension.

When cohabitation goes seamlessly into marriage the whole relationship can be counted. So, as Charles says, you could make a claim on 13 years of the pension.

Finances on divorce are about needs first and the means to meet them. Various factors are taken into account such as ages and incomes as well as the length of the marriage.

Your strict need is a 1-2 bed place apiece. You also need income now and in the future.

When working things out, you need to also factor in any mortgage capacity you each have.

All assets go into the pot for division. Bear in mind that, depending on the type of pension he has, it could be worth more the amount quoted. A final salary company pension with defined benefits is the most valuable. Some other kinds of pension can be converted to cash once you reach 55.

It is perfectly possible for you to have a share of the pension and potentially a greater than 50% share of the equity but it will depend on circumstances. If you can tell us a little more about you incomes, the house value and any other assets including savings, we can guide you more effectively.

Hadenoughnow

Thank you so much, much appreciated. The house is valued at £355k we owe £190k on the mortgage. My income is £11k per annum his is £26k. Savings my ISA £37k his £20k. We have a motorhome valued around £13k.

let's assume that the pension will have run for 30 years by the time he wants to retire in 3 years time. This means the pension is 27 years old.

You have been 'together' for 13 years which is around 48% of those 27 years. Assuming that he keeps the first 52% of the pension, the remainder is split equally giving you 24% of the pension which is £52.8k based on the £220k valuation.

As hadenoughnow says, different pensions can be more valuable that others - the CEV figure is not always that helpful.

One pension pound is not worth one pound in your pocket as the pension is paid as an income stream (you can't buy a house with a pension but you can pay a mortgage). You have to make adjustments for this but there are no hard rules.

If you were to discount the £52.8k by 35% this would give you around £34.3k which is close to the £30k you would prefer in return for having no claim on the pension.

This is fairly sound logic but is still based on a broad brush approach which could alter if the figures were examined in any great depth.

The question is whether you have enough information to seek legal advice. A competent solicitor could make certain assumptions to fill any gaps and give you general advice such as whether maintenance was appropriate and how much of an adjustment would be necessary to give parity to the settlement - what with your earnings being lower and you having no pension fund.

Charles

Wow, thank you Charles that is very helpful. Much appreciated. I have a solicitors appointment next week for a fee of £50 plus vat she will go through my options.