In recent years considerable changes have taken place in the way
occupational and personal pension rights have been viewed and dealt
with in divorce settlements. Many people are aware of the
various concepts offsetting, earmarking and pension sharing.
However, people tend to overlook the effects that
divorce, or the dissolution of a civil partnership, has in respect
of those benefits provided by the Basic State Pension (BSP) and Additional Pension (AP).
Q & A's
The current maximum basic state pension (2010/11) is
£97.65 per week for a single person. You should accrue this
amount if you have a full National Insurance Contributions
record.
Yes. If it will result in more basic State Pension you may
substitute the NI record of your former spouse for either:-
- All tax years during your working life up to the end of the tax
year in which the marriage ended or the end of the tax year before
you reach State Pension Age (SPA), whichever comes first; or
- All the Tax Years in your working life from the beginning of
the one in which you and your former spouse married up to the end
of the one in which the divorce took place or before the one in
which you attain SPA, whichever comes first.
No. The right to use the NI record of your former spouse ceases
if you remarry.
Not automatically. But you may be entitled to a share of your
former spouse's additional State Pension if the Courts decide it
should be shared as part of the financial settlement on
divorce.
It is possible to split rights under the SERPs and State Second
Pension (S2P) schemes in a similar manner to a Pension Sharing
Order. Again the valuation must be obtained at the outset, the same
as for any private rights, as this type of claim cannot be made
retrospectively. In order to obtain the valuation you need to
contact The Pension Service, which is part of the Department for
Works and Pensions (DWP). You can call for a divorce
valuation on 0845 3000 168 or you can complete a paper request
by obtaining and returning form BR20, which is found here: Pension Service Forms
