actuaries

I have had to employ an Actuary to look at my husband''s pension as he twice lied on oath about its value.
Today the actuary said that she was not sure she would be able to find the pension details of the two years we lived together before marriage. I used to be an HR Director and I am bit shocked she didn''t know that even tho the business had been bought , as part of the duediligence process the new owners NSN would have had to acquire and TOPE protect pensions from the company they were buying, at Ben''s level.And records should be kepy for 20 years so I am unsetlled she doesn''t know that. Or am I being paranoid do yout hink?

Also my stbx has opted OUT of the Actuary taking into account state pension details. Why? Does that hold any negative repercussions for me?
I opted IN and said she could. Shuold I not have?
I simply don''t know whether this is good or bad.

Finally- he has turned down both offers I have made him over settlement and is insisting on Court on the 28th Sept so I now have to employ a barrister. So far this diorce has cost me £20k and him £15k but he earns over 389k a year plus bonuses while I earn nothing and am having to pat from the comensation money I got from being hit bya a car three years ago and hurt quite badly. I got £90k

By the time I take out of this all the money I have had to pay to put the house on the market and have it painted, new pipes in etc etc and replace the furniture he took plus pay the ;awyer I will have about £16k left- but his solivitor is claiming £45 k from me for Ben as his ''share'' of my accident money.
I won''t have this. Is he entitled to it? He did not support me- I had to go to the job centre and then took a job on min wage in a care home after earning a fortune during the 90''s. I am not at all bothered about the work I do- whatever it takes to pay the bills. But if he IS entitled to this forty five K who will they make me pay it back and do you think he IS enitled to it?
Sorry to ramble but am so desperate. He pays less than a fifth of his take home salary to me which covers the mortgage and little else, We live in such a rural area there ARE no jobs and last night my ancient olf ebay car blew a tyre and hit the hedge so I don''t even have a car now when I used to drive a company BMW- again its not the make- its about not being ''worth'' anything any more.
I am applying for senior jobs but my confidence is so shot I can hardly stumble through an interview and his lawyer alleges i am doing it on purpose.
I am just so lost.
If anyone can answer the q about pensions I would be really really grateful
Thanks
Kitsi

How long have you been married and do you have a solicitor? Perhaps I''m missing something but in England & Wales the valuation for a pension is the value of the fund at the time of the divorce settlement and the two years before marriage would usually be irrelevant.

The value of any assets held in joint or sole names are relevant and need to be disclosed. Where assets originated from is less important with the passing of time but there are arguments for some assets, such as injury compensation for pain, suffering, loss of amenity and care or assets not acquired during the marriage to be considered non-matrimonial and they are then allotted back to one party.

Once the value of the assets for sharing has been determined they are split according to the checklist of s25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 factors. The contributions of both parties to a marriage is usually considered equal and after a long marriage the aim would be to leave both parties on a similar financial footing.

I think you are talking about CETV alue. Often an Actuary finds the value is greater than the CETV value as it is ''sealed'' at the rate predicted at the time of retirmenet rather than the current value- actuaries are predictors.
Married 12, together 14.5 so term is counted as 14.5.
Yes of course I have a solicitor, we have just reached the Nisi stage.
In England the co habitation period from last April is considered valid.

Actuarial valuations are required in some circumstances because CETVs don''t always take into account discretionary benefits and an actuary can calculate a fair pension share so that both parties are left in the same position. The problem is that it is arguable whether pension schemes are obliged to provide retrospective valuations – and some don’t.

State pensions split into two parts:

Basic state pension which cannot be shared and second state pension (S2P) which can.

I often see a relaxed approach to state pensions being taken and this can overlook the value of them particularly, the S2P.

As your husband is a high earner his S2P could be quite considerable.

Whenever I am advising clients I urge them to get state pension valuations. For S2P it is a BR20 form. I have seen values of £120k plus for S2P - not inconsiderable.

As part of disclosure best practice would be to get the value of the S2P and an understanding of basic state pension entitlements.

I am surprised the actuary will work on one opted in and one opted out. Have they confirmed what is happening?

At this stage it is vital that the actuary is asked the right questions. Can you confirm what the actuary has been asked to do?

Phil