Not a clue re his pension

My STBX has a pension worth £62,000. I have no pension.He is proposing a 60/40 split of our assets Clean Break excluding his pension.
Am i entitled to any of his pension, if so how much and how. Not got a clue.
Any advice please
Thanks

Sky

it would be helpful to have a few more details:

- how old are you both?
- How long have you been together?
- Are there any children, and if so, how old are they and who do they live with?
- What are your respective incomes?
- What is the vlaue of the other assets?

Detail below of my situation

married 20 years
2 children 17 & 20. Youngest in ft education
I earn about £7,500 - 24 hrs pw
He earns £40,000 + bonuses + overtime
Mortgage of £65,000 in joint names
Approx 100,000 equity in the house
No debts
Isa in my name was worth £12,000.00 at time of separation he said he would make no claim on - he has since changed his mind and sees no reason why this amount should be disreagarded!

Endownment policy worth approx 11,300 would mature in 3 years. Payment £32 pm

He has a pension worth £62,000
I have no pension

There is a policy in his name worth approx £1,600 which matures Dec 2011.

I am 45
He is 44

The children are living with me.

His offer buy me out for £50,680
I keep the isa
I have the endownment
Clean break as to capital and income and death.

He states "he belives that this will adequately compensate me for difference in earnings and pension provision as he believes i could increase my income and work full time".

I can get no more hours at work at the moment and i am suffering from depression and anxiety. I am doing the best i can.

He has been paying the mortgage since the separation and has stated that if i don't accept this offer he is unable to continue and wants me to take over the mortgage payments till settlement. I cannot afford this i am just managing at the momen

Can anyone help with this please

Thanks
Sky

I don't think this is a realistic offer.

On the face of it, he is offering you total assets worth around £73K

so the outcome will be that you have £73K plus income of £7.5K and no pension.
He would have assets of £49K plus income of £40K and pension of £62K.

On a slary of £40K gross he has net income of around £29,500 - I assume you have not taken into account child support in your figures? This would work out at about £4,425 (Cs is payable yuntil a child is 19, if they are in full time secondary level education) so your total net income will increase to around £11,925 and his will fall to around £25,000. You should check whether, while your son remains at home and in eduacation, you are entitled to any tax credits etc.

I think you need to look at your financial needs: What is your mortgage capacity, and how much would you need to allow you to rehouse yourself and your 17 y.o.?

What is your realisitic earning capacity? I think it is realistic to expect that you move towards full time work, but even if you are able to find full time employment your income is (I would expect) unlikly to be anything like as high as his.

I see no reason at all why you should be denied a share of the pension - this has ben a long marriage and so a start ing ppoint of 50/50 on the pension would be the norm. As you are both only in your mid-forties I presume that most, of not all of the pension was built up during the relationship.

What type of work do you do? I understand that you may ntot be able to increase your hours at present but it is likely to be reasonable for you to look at improving your income, even if this maeans looking for a second part time job if there are no more hours available in your current job, and to expect to be working full time (whether in one job or two) in the future, so one issue is to look at what you might realistically earn once you do so. I suspect that it won't be £40K but it would be higher than at present (If you were to work full time (35 hour week) even at the National Minimum wage = £10,800 gross, £9,300 net. If your current job pays above that level then obbiously your overall earning capacity will be greater.)

The fact that you might be able to earn more and to build up a pension in the future is not a good reason for denying you a share of the pension which has been built up aready.

A 60/40 split of the capital might be reasonable if it were to be coupled with a pension sharing order and at this stage, spousal maintenance.

Thank you for your reply.

I am receiving tax credits. My mortgage capacity would be approx 20k i think and an average house about 110k but i also have to consider my eldest child who i know is not treated as dependant, but would also live with me so i need 3 bedrooms.

All of the pension was built up during the marriage and i do office work.

It is worth your speaking to an independent mortgage advisor. Some lenders will take into account tax credits and maintenace when assessing mortgage capacity so you may be able to borrow a bit more than you think.

However, if your capacity if £20K then to afford a £110K property you would need around £90K, which is equivalent to about 74% of the available capital.

That would leave around £31K for your husband. Based on his income his mortgage capacity would be in the region of £120-£140K so this would also allow him to rehouse.

His offer would leave you unable to rehouse.

This would leave you paying a 20K mortgage (Probably about £100 per month)
If he buys a house of the same value, he would need a mortgage of £79,000 so would be paying around £375 per month.

So after taking into account housing costs and child support, he will have net income of about £1,700 per month and you will have about £893 per month, so he is still likely to be better of than you.

this is at the top end of the type of split a court might make without imposing some kind of charge back, and I think your ex might legitimately argue that your mortgage and earnings could be higher and that a slightly lower lump sum would be fair, but his offer is not realisitic.