Am i required by law to get a CETV

My solicitor has advised me that the judge will not look at an application until he has seen all financial disclosure and that includes pensions even if we do not want to make a claim on each others. Is this correct?

Lilly

Your solicitor is correct. If you are going through the ancillary relief process there is a mandatory financial disclosure on the infamous form E, and this includes pension values for you both (including Additional State Pension).

The good news is that unless the pensions are in payment or will be in the next twelve months, the pension schemes will provide the valuations free of charge. If the pensions are salary related (defined benefits) you should request Cash Equivalent Transfer Values (CETVs). For defined contribution (aka money purchase) pensions, the providers do not always understand what a CETV is, so the current transfer value will be fine. If either of you have Additional State Pension entitlements (SERPS/S2P) you should request a valuation from the pensions office; phone them on 0845 3000 168 and request a form BR20.

Some pension schemes take a while to produce these valuations (they are allowed up to three months by law), which can be annoying, but you will get them eventually.

Peter.

my ex has kicked off about the cetv request. I have told him to go and speak to his solicitor and he will explain why it is needed.

So just to clarify, it is mandatory to produce CETV on form E, even if i dont want to make a claim on it? I have also requested my CETV.

Hi Lily.
We were not claiming off each other for pension so we sent off the Consent Order without CETVs.
It was not granted & I got a letter stating I had to get CETVs for our consent order to be approved.
Luckily we both had our annual statements & Peter from BDM helped me pick the right transfer values to send.

I was told this is simply so the judge can see you understand what you are giving up & as a public servant they have a duty to check you will not be a burden on the state later in life by not claiming - Charming ! LOL

Form E Pension Section says
Documentation required for attachment to this section:
a) A recent statement showing the cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) provided by the trustees or managers of each pension arrangement (or, in the case of the additional state pension, a valuation of these rights)
b) If any valuation is not available, give the estimated date when it will be available and attach a copy of your letter to the pension company or administrators from whom the information was sought and/or state the date on which an application for a valuation of a State Earnings Related Pension Scheme was submitted to the Department of Work and Pensions

In my opinion b] gives people an excuse to do nothing and block progress - if there's no CETV with Form E the court has the power under pension sharing Information Regulations to order the pension scheme to send a CETV to court or complete Form P the pension inquiry form which requires a CETV, without his consent.
It's a good idea to get his pension information/CETV to see what you're agreeing not to share?

Thats ok as i dont want him to say i was just being difficult. He can be very nasty and intimidating so I will sit back and wait to see what happens. Hopefully his solicitors will advise him why it is needed as i dont see why i should tell him as i have to pay for my legal advice so why shouldnt he.

Form E simply asks for a pensions valuation. What if we are prepared to get a £25 estimated valuation or even a full actuarial one? Can we skip CETV. I don't want to have to wait 3+months for a figure that is halting progress.