pensions

Does anyone know with pensions, is it only the years of the marriage whilst one has been in the scheme that the STBX can claim their share of when it comes to the pension? I have been in my scheme for 11 years & we have been married for 12 years. So is it only a share of the 11 years I have paid in so far that she can claim against rather than its full value by the time its been running for its duration of 30 years?

Ta,

Ted,

Yes, she is entitled to claim against the period that you were married, so if you paid in 11 years and it has 30 to run, she has an 11/30 claim on 50% (or whatever the asset split is agreed at).

Mike

For "pension attachment" - used to be called earmarking- a 50% share of the CETV awarded to your wife on divorce will be 50% of the CETV as calculated when you take your pension into payment - ie attachment takes post divorce contributions into the reckoning and is only payable to an ex-spouse when you take that pension into payment.

For "pension sharing" ie under WRPA 1999 legislation- splitting the pension in two to give your wife a pension in her own name - the CETV is calculated at the date of divorce and excludes all further post divorce contributions you make.

what about a Clean Break aarrangement in the context of my circumstances above? Would it only be based on the contributions I've made pre-divorce & not on those I make subsequently?

Thanks

As I understand it- I'm not an expert:
Splitting/sharing or offsetting/swapping the pensions as prescribed in a Consent Order are considered clean break solutions ie no continuing financial relationship - all pension claims dismissed.
Any further contributions you make to a pension dealt with in these ways in a Consent Order are protected from any further sharing - except by a subsequent spouse if you remarry and then divorce.

If there's an award for spousal maintenance, when applying to vary the duration or amount, because the court has an ongoing obligation to achieve a clean break, the ex-spouse can apply to share any pension which was not available at the date of divorce in order to enable maintenance to cease.
I think an attachment order for the pension in-service death benefits to be paid to an ex-spouse may protect a pension from any further sharing - but you'd need to check the detail of that.
I'm not sure how pensions that the protagonists have simply agreed not to share are protected from subsequent sharing on variation of spousal maintenance.Probably a clause in the Consent Order?