You and your partner will need to consider how to treat your benefits as part of any divorce/dissolution settlement.
You will normally have to disclose all financial interests you have to the Court. You or your solicitor will need to contact us to request information. This will include an estimate of the cash equivalent transfer (CETV) value of your pension rights. If your solicitor contacts us, you will need a signed document to say that the information can be shared with them.
The Court will then decide whether a Earmarking Order or a Pension Sharing Order is placed on your Local Government pension.
It must be noted that none of these Orders will have any effect on any child pension that would be payable after your death.
Pension Sharing Order
In divorce proceedings that commenced on or after 1st December 2000, the Court may grant a Pension Sharing Order. Your ex-spouse will receive a percentage of your pension benefits and as such will have pension benefits separate from yours.
This percentage will be deducted from your pension, the retirement lump sum and any pension for your new spouse if you remarry will be given to your ex-spouse as Pension Credit.
As a Pension Credit member of the LGPS, your former spouse will receive their pension benefits when you reach age 55 with a reduction, or without a reduction on either State Pension Age (if you left employment after 01/04/2014), or 65 (if you left employment before 01/04/2014), and the pension will be payable for life. The pension benefits could be released sooner if they suffer a serious illness. They will also have the option to transfer this Pension Credit to another pension arrangement, other than a LGPS, if they wish.
Please contact us in writing if you need to calculate the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value of your Local Government pension rights for divorce proceedings.
Earmarking Order
An Earmarking Order entitles your ex-spouse to receive a portion of your benefits when you retire. This portion may include:
- Part of your pension
- Part of your retirement lump sum
- Part of any lump sum paid after you die
- If you joined the pension scheme before 17/03/1987, the Earmarking Order could mean that some of your pension will be exchanged for an additional lump sum of retirement.
If your ex-spouse remarries, the Earmarking Order against your pension will be automatically removed.
Pension payments to your ex-spouse will end after you die.
In the past, you may have put your ex-spouse or civil partner down to receive any lump sum due in the event of your death. As part of the divorce process, you should check your death grant expression of wish form to make sure it is up to date.