Pension in payment

Reading the latest posts on pensions has set me thinking. How do the courts view sharing paensions already in payment. My partner has three income streams his salary, his forces pension and his war disability benfit. This enables him to pay the mortgage and utility bills on the FMH as global maintenance, and 70% of the marital debt (basically she ran up a load of bills took out an IVA for what she could afford and he shouldered the rest. He has never been able to get to the bottom of where the money went and she claims it's marital debt, he can't prove otherwise so c'est la vie).

I digress, the marital debt and maintenance (voluntary)payments basically come to 75% of his income, they have exchanged form Es on a voluntary basis and she wants the house and a share of his pension and the same maintenance.

If she has 50% of his pension his income stream from that pension will reduce immediately by 50% and hers will not start until she is 55 (7 years time). He won't be able to pay as much as he does now and she says without it she will lose the house.

Will the court take this into account? (she wants "the Judge to decide - he will give me what I'm worth, you won't")

Anyone?

Ursa Major,

Its an interesting one for sure. In short I dunno (Fat lot of use that is!)

That said, it is about the needs of the parties, and the parties ability to pay.

Without understanding the full 'needs' picture, hard to say what a judge would order, as the direct loss of income by your partner sharing his pension will not be beneficial to the ex for 7 years. So if she cant get at it for 7 years, does she really 'need' it?

Hmmmm - bit of a chicken and egg methinks....

Maybe pop a PM to Peter @BDM - he might have a thought or two on it

Mike

Now for the other Mike !!

I'm quite surprised, to say the least, that your partner is paying 75% of his income in debt and maintenance. Surely he must be left enough to live on ????

I honestly don't know whether a pension in payment can be split. I asked about mine and was told it couldn't be. But others may be different.

Like your partner, I am paying SM out of my pension. If I die first, my pension dies with it and as the SM would cease, my ex's only claim is under the Inheritance Act.

I take your point about the practical effect of a pension split. You might need to consider whether the ex might have a claim under the Inheritance Act if your partner does before her share of the pension became payable.

There could be another effect too. If your partner pays 50% of his SM out of his pension, it may ( depending on his age )
have implications for tax. Generally people over 65 have higher tax allowances but if your partner has income over £22900
those allowances are withdrawn. " The system " doesn't take any account of the
fact that the payer is under a legally enforceable obligation to pay x% of his gross income to his ex.

I suspect the ex will not be taxed on the maintenance she gets but whether this is the same if the pension were split, I'm not sure. The tax aspect is one of those things you need to think about.

I wish your partner good luck. I have many times felt that there should be some statutory limit on how much maintenance can be paid, or some STATUTORY level of protected income for the payer. Your case
demonstrates the need for it .

LMM

He seems to be paying an awful lot! Are there young children to consider? What is doing to support herself? If she is only 48 presumably she can work full-time and she still has time to build up some pension for herself?

Mikes - Thank you, I will have to get in touch with Peter at BDM.

He's 49 (my partner not Peter!!) so no tax implications.

Penny - She does work full time 20K a year + tax credits, kids are 22 (@Uni) 17 next month (sixth form) and 14 in Sept. The way it works is I pay for us, he pays the mortgage and bills direct and she pays New Look, Primark, the hairdressers/nail bar/beautician.

She wants the house, the kids (like they are so many washing machines!, half of his pension and a lump sum.

She says a lump sum is what she's worth and if he can't borrow it I have to!!!!!He's hocked up to the eyebrows to pay off her credit card debts so the house didn't get repossessed - she took out an IVA but couldn't come anywhere close to what she owes, so he had to take on the rest - usual story unopened credit card bills hidden all round the house - he only got to see them when they were threatening bailiffs and CCJs.He has never got to the bottom of what they were for - and of course with no receipts to prove otherwise he has to agree they were marital debt or he won't get any "credit" for them when it comes to divvying up the marital pot.