Police pension? CETV? Divorce looming!

Someone with a better handle on finances will be along. But on the face of it, you get the debt and he gets a fat pension and a lump sum? Doesn''t sound entirely fair to me. What is he offering in the way of CM and SM? How is he going to rehouse himself?

Hi,

I am with pixy here.

Yours is/was a long marriage 21 years and so I would expect equality and needs to figure strongly here.

But first what are you looking to achieve out of the financial settlement? What are your needs?

I suspect with three children, housing is a priority. With the equity you have and your salary I imagine moving is not top of your agenda? The mortgage seems high for the amount you are paying. Is it interest only? How will this be paid off?

The police pension is valuable and has special terms which mean you need to be vigilant to what is done with it.

After 21 years I would argue you should be looking to share some of this pension. Bear in mind that the equity of £52k is a long way from the pension CETV of £245k. offsetting one against the other needs thought and attention.

I note no SM has been agreed. There is a desparity between your incomes. How will this be overcome?

Have you instructed a solicitor?

My view is that you may be able to get some of the pension as well as the house but I would need to understand your situation more, particularly the mortgage issue.

I note that you mention that your husbaand is to retire in 8 years time with 30 years service.
The police pension scheme has some unique characteristics. Firstly, if you leave service before completing 25 years service you are entitled to a pension from age 60. If you leave service having completed 25 years service you have earned the right to draw benefits from age 50.
The CETV represents the value of benefits payable on leaving service at the date of calculation, therefore the CETV provided 18 months age represents the value of pension benefits on the basis that they come into payment at age 60. As benefits payable from age 50 will be paid sooner and will be paid for longer, they are of significantly higher value.
So, the CETV for your husband''s pension does not reflect it''s true value if he intends to stay in service and retire at age 50.
The CETV is already 18 months out of date, an updated CETV would be around £300k, the CETV increases by about 50% once the member has completed 25 years service (due to then having earned the right to draw benefits from age 50).
Overall, the Police Pension Scheme is an extremely valuable scheme and a pension share will provide you with some levele of security in retirement. You do however need proper advice which would include illustrations of the impact of applying a pension sharing order to both parties.

Ian