Pension Share Agreed - what now?

Any advice please.

I have a Consent Order which entitles me to a % of my ex husband's pension and my decree abolute.

What should I do now to action the pension share? Are there any deadlines I have to adhere to?

Many thanks

Hi,

The next stage is to decide what you are going to do with the pension share.

This will often depend on the scheme involved and you will need to understand your options in full. Do you know what your options with the existing scheme are?

Usually, the pension share is dealt with by transferring out of the existing scheme but sometimes (especially in public sector schemes) the share is applied internally.

There can be benefits to both approaches and this is a very important decision.

If you have to transfer out of the existing scheme do you already have a pension in your own name?

To action the pension share, you will need a pension sharing order, the consent order (you have) and depending upon how the share is to be dealt with further documents such as indemnitiy forms, application forms and often, birth certificates. Not all schemes and providers have the same requirements.

The pension sharing order will need to be completed correctly and all the documentation lodged with the existing scheme before they implement the pension share. If the sharing order has not been completed yet it will need to be court stamped before implementation.

From the point where the existing scheme has all of this documentation, they have up to 4 months to implement. Depending upon where you are it can take some time before the scheme is ready to implement.

I hope this helps. Post again for further assistance.

Regards

Phil

Wow Phil. Thanks you so much for all this useful information.

I have to transfer out of his scheme into a new pension (I don't have one I can pay it into).

I assume that I need to see an IFA to arrange this. How much is this likely to cost? If the Pension sharing annex say costs are to be split equally - does this mean he shares the costs of setting up the new pension or just the costs related to transferring into it.

Thanks again
Anna

Hi,

I am afraid the answer to your first question is it depends. Different IFAs have different charging structures and these are usually fee only, fee based or commission.

As yet there is no uniformity of approach. Myself, I use a fees based approach (mix of fees and commission) and leave the decision on how I am remunerated to the client.

Where the annex refers to sharing costs this usually only means the charge that the pension provider / company levies for implementing the order. Any advice on where to transfer to, how to invest, how much to draw is usually paid for separately.

If you need anything further please post again or send me a PM.

Regards

Phil