What is a CETV and can we cash it?

I'm still at home with my four children nearly a year after my wife left to return to her parents (no reason other than wanting to do her own thing). It's getting easier to manage everything and I'm somehow finding a routine. I'm now seeking a divorce for my own peace of mind.

For ten years I've been paying into a local authority pension fund and as part of the divorce settlement she is asking for half of it. I have found the CETV but not clear what it means, whether I can stop paying in to this or if I can cash it to pay her off?

I continue to work full time and find i have little time to think about money other than ensure I have some, despite my best intentions I still really only just manage to juggle everything.

I have a large mortgage £170000 and she also wants to keep her name on the deeds and have half of the net proceeds when i sell the home or when the youngest two are 18 but she doesn't want to pay toward the costs of keeping the home or the mortgage.

Due to current climate we've probably lost over 50K on the value and I have monthly mortgage payments of £1200, over half my salary, if i sold the house we'd probably only be looking at sharing 50K but not enough for me to get another home for me and the children.

I suppose i'm angry that either I have to sell the childrens' home now or when they are 18 neither option offers stability for them. So I am wondering if I cash the pension, if that's possible, I could at least buy her out of the house? Just an idea.

If she agrees to this then you can do that but you will have to contact your pension provider to see if you can cash it in and how much you would get. If you could do this I would certainly advise it and get that house into your name only.

On another tangent - is she paying anything in maintenance for the children, and if not why not? Perhaps you could come to some deal where you waive your right to receive maintenance in exchange to her signing the house over to you and then split the pension when it becomes payable? Any sort of deal is possible if you agree - just make sure that you get it made official.

Janey

thanks
don't know if we can do that but I'd rather have the house in my name than have the maintenance. I'll contact pension tomorrow to find out.

You can't take cash from a pension until you draw your pension and then usually only 25% of the fund.
10 years of a local govt final salary pension might be worth more than your house but the CETV is hardly ever a fair value for a final salary pension.
If you want to get an idea of how big a pension pot you need to get anywhere near even your current LGPS pension income have a look at the FSA Annuity tables ?

fridage,

As you are the parent with care, you and the children have priority when it comes to housing. If you want to know more about how pensions are treated on divorce, have a look in the pensions section of the library. One option is to offset - ie to give her cash now in exchange for her claim on your pension - this may be in the form of a larger share of the property when it is eventually sold.

How exactly the finances are setteld depends on a range of factors

Look at www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Divorce-Financ...to-calculate-a-fair- financial-settlement.html

This sets out what is considered when assets are divided on divorce.

You can use the on site Divorce Calculator for guidance or if you want wikipeeps to give you a view, you need to provide the following information:

Ages
Length of marriage + pre marriage cohab
Children - ages, genders and arrangements for them (nights with each parent)
Incomes (inc Tax credits etc if applicable)
FMH Value and outstanding mortgage + size of FMH
Value of other assets in sole of joint names - savings, shares, endowments
Pensions - CETVS
Liabilities in sole or joint names - loans, debts etc

Hadenoughnow

You can't "cash in" a pension. It has a "cash equivalent value" but that is for administrative purposes, its not a surrender value. Your pension scheme administrators can give you info about what your range of options are, but essentially you can't do anything until you get to the earliest retirement age provided under your scheme.

Hadenoughnow has hit all the right buttons: look at the info and you probably then need to get some legal advice. There is a good side to the current financial position, in that if the house value is right down, you can probably "buy out" your spouse's interest for less than was the case. And a divorce settlement won't necessarily give her half if you need the house as a family home, and an immediate sale is unlikely in most cases. So things may be better than you think.

thank you