If you get divorced, or dissolve a civil partnership, the court will take your pension assets into account when determining any settlement.
You and your ex-spouse or partner will each need to tell the court the value of your pension pot(s) and the value of the benefits you have built up. You don't have the automatic right to know the value of your ex-spouse's or partner's benefits, and vice versa but you can each decide to tell each other. We can give you the information you need.
If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, it is the value of your pension benefits at the date of divorce or dissolution of the civil partnership that is counted. If you live in Scotland, it's the increase in the value of your pension benefits over the course of the marriage or civil partnership that is counted. This means that pensions should be valued at the date of separation.
When you go to court, you and your ex-spouse or partner can decide how any pension benefits are split. You can decide to accept:
- Pension sharing - the pension is split at the time of divorce or dissolution so that you each receive a separate pension pot and can continue to build pension benefits for the future
- Pension offsetting - you each keep your own pension benefits but adjust the proportion of other assets to take account of the value of the pension benefits. For example, you could keep your pension, and your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner could get a larger share of the value of the house.
- Pension earmarking - arranging that when one person's pension benefits start to be drawn down, part of them will be paid to the other person
You may wish to get legal advice from your solicitor on how to deal with your LGPS benefits during any divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership.
When your divorce or dissolution is completed
- Your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner will cease to be entitled to a spouse's or civil partner's pension should you die before them.
- Any children's pension paid to an eligible child in the event of your death will not be affected by your divorce or dissolution.
- Complete a new expression of wish form, even if you would like to still nominate your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner to receive a share of your lump sum death grant. Note that it is possible the court could issue an 'Earmarking Order' stating that all or part of any lump sum death grant is payable to your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner.
If you remarry or enter into a new civil partnership
If your LGPS benefits are subject to a Pension Sharing Order and you remarry, enter into a new civil partnership or into a cohabiting partnership, any spouse's pension, civil partner's pension or eligible cohabiting partner's pension payable following your death will also be reduced.
If you remarry or enter into a new civil partnership and then divorce or dissolve your civil partnership again, your remaining pension rights can be subject to further division, although a Pension Sharing Order cannot be issued if an Earmarking Order has already been issued against your LGPS pension rights. Similarly, an Earmarking Order cannot be issued if your pension benefits are already subject to a Pension Sharing Order in respect of the marriage/civil partnership.
Cash equivalent transfer value (CETV)
A cash equivalent transfer value or CETV is a monetary value which represents the worth of the benefits to be given up. If you're a member of Derbyshire Pension Fund and need a CETV for matrimonial proceedings, you'll need to complete the consent form attached to this page.
This form gives us the authority to provide you, and your solicitor (if applicable) with the required information. It also details the current admin charges.
Once we've received your consent form we'll write to you with the first valuation within 3 months of the date your form is received.
A CETV for matrimonial proceedings can only be provided every 12 months without incurring additional charges to the standard admin charges. If you ask for a subsequent valuation you'll be sent a letter detailing the additional charges.
Pension credit members
If you're an ex-spouse of a member of Derbyshire Pension Fund you may be awarded a share of the pension benefits in the event that a pension sharing order is issued by the court.
Should a court order be implemented, you'll be given the choice of having either a pension credit in the LGPS, where you're effectively a member in your own right, or you can transfer your share to another appropriate pension scheme.
Links to useful documents