Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon

Your Pension

Your pension is a marital asset, and will be taken into account during  proceedings.

There is no set framework for dealing with pensions in divorce, but a pension is considered part of your marital assets, whether it belongs to you or your wife/partner, and it must be considered in divorce proceedings

Again, the court will look at provision for the family and assess what resources are available to all parties to ensure their future financially. If the court rules that the pension is to be shared, there are two ways this can be achieved:

• The capital is divided at the time of the divorce
• The pension is divided to make equal income for retirement

Courts vary in the approach they take, but there are two ways in which pensions can be dealt with: -

• Offsetting
  This is where we would look at compensating one party for the loss of interest in their spouses pension by giving that person a greater share of the other available assets. This will depend upon the value of the pension concerned and the value of the other assets.
• Pension sharing
  This is where one part of one party's pension is taken and paid into the other party's pension.

Take financial advice

Pensions are notoriously complicated, especially when you’re getting divorced. Solicitors are not qualified to give financial advice and therefore it is essential to seek advice from an Independent Financial Advisor.