Is there a simple answer to this question

As I understand it, in england, if a pension sharing order is made by the court at 50/50
it is calculated from the date that the order takes effect.
Can this to be backdated to the date of seperation or will it be the date that it is issued.
The reason I ask is that I want to offset my stbx's pension against the FMH, the house is not going up in value at the moment but the pension, which is final salary, presumably is.
If this is correct then it is in my stbx's favour to make a quick decision as the longer her solicitor rattles the sabre the pot is growing, mostly at her expense.

It has to be at the time the order is made otherwise it is not 50%. If the pension fund had gone down, would you be happy backdating the calculation to the date of separation and using that figure to give 50% to your spouse?

If you make an open offer of settlement on one date and that offer is subsequently accepted, there is an argument to use a different date on the basis that the fund was worth less at the date of the offer but otherwise I'm sure you get the point

Charles

Cheers

Hope you don't mind an additional about CETVs and offsetting, hugh
It's widely accepted that final salary CETVs are a large underestimate of the "real" value.
In my case an "express" actuarial valuation [done just after the Consent Order for a complaint against my divorce solicitor] showed that the intact deferred final salary pension was worth c£150k more than the CETV offered by the scheme and that valuation made the final salary pension worth £150k more than the independently valued mortgage-free family home.
At FDR this pension and the family home were the only two assets available for sharing and because there was no independent actuarial valuation of the pension, the family home and pension appeared in the schedule of assets and were dealt with as assets of equal value.

Send as many 'additionals' as you like, I'm information gathering.
If you read my other posts you'll have a clue of what I'm trying to do.
I'm after the impossible, a simple result!
I want to swap any interest in her pension for her share of the equity in the FMH. I have sent an open offer to her solicitor offering just that.
I have said that if this is not acceptable then a 50/50 split of everything is the alternative.
I'm 54 in a couple of months she's 45, as I will retire before her will this be taken into account as regards the split? i.e. am I likely to get a larger share? don't get me wrong, I'd still rather have her £33000 share of the FMH equity, but it would be another bargaining chip.

www.penfam.co.uk/guide/downloads/2003Div...ceWord_Version03.pdf

Worth a read - the fly in the ointment with offsetting is the apparently accepted discount "for cash"
Anyone wanting to swap their share of the pension up for sharing should prepare for their share of the CETV to be chiselled by the other side/the judge,reportedly to the tune of 25%.Loathsome but true.
All the more reason to push for an independent actuarial valuation with costs shared equally?

It has been accepted that the 25% figure was low but the case in which is was used (Maskell v Maskell) is a good example of why the court cannot use regard the CETV as cash.

In simple terms the CETV of a pension fund is not a cash value and you can't access the fund in the same way as other assets. It is locked away until pensionable age.

The percentage of cash value attributed to the pension fund depends upon various factors including the number of years until retirement. The longer the period to retirement, the lower the percentage of cash value.

Charles