Divorce and pension sharing

If you are going through a divorce or dissolution you may be asked to provide details of your LGPS pension. This is because the court may take the value of your pension into account when deciding a settlement of assets.

Upon request, we can provide you with a divorce pack containing:

• the Cash Equivalent Value for divorce purposes
• the full charging schedule of any costs associated with divorce proceedings in relation to your pension
• useful information about divorce or dissolution and your pension

If you have more than one account, you will receive a separate divorce pack for each. If you have a pension that is already in payment, although there is no obligation to provide a divorce pack to you in respect of this account, we are able to do so for a fee. Find more information here: How divorce can affect your pension

The court, you and your ex-partner, may decide one of the following outcomes:

It may be agreed that you should keep your pension in exchange for offsetting of the other joint assets. If this is the case, there will be no effect on your LGPS pension.

It may be agreed that a proportion of your LGPS pension should be ‘earmarked’ for your spouse.

This means that the pension will continue to be held in your name, but when your pension is paid, your ex-partner will receive a share. This option will mean your partner will receive a share of the pension you built up after the divorce or dissolution.

It may be agreed that your ex-partner should be awarded a share of your pension.

This can be anything from 1% to 100% depending on the agreement. As the pension is split from the date of divorce or dissolution it means your ex-partner will only receive a share of what you have built up until then, and not be able to access any future pension build-up.

If pension sharing is agreed, a Pension Sharing Order (PSO) will be issued by the court. This document sets out what the court has decided will happen to your pension, including the amount that should be debited from your pension and awarded to your former spouse or civil partner. This will usually be a percentage figure.

To divide your pension, we will require a full copy of the PSO, stamped by the court and the administration fee paid to us in full. The PSO will state who is liable for meeting this cost.

Once we receive this payment, we will make the adjustment to your pension and if applicable, advise you of the revised amount you will receive in pension payments going forward.

After the PSO has been applied your former spouse or civil partner will have their own pension record held in their name. People who receive a portion of a pension following a PSO, are known as pension credit members.

Your ex-partner will be able to access the details of the pension credit account only, not your pension. We will write to the pension credit member separately to inform them of the value of their pension and their options for payment where applicable. Due to data protection, we will not be able to discuss any details relating to the pension credit account with you.

If less than 100% of your pension was awarded to your former spouse/civil partner and you remarry or enter into another civil partnership in the future, the remainder of your pension could be subject to a further PSO.

Your former spouse or civil partner will not be entitled to any survivors’ pension following the implementation of the PSO, should you die before them.

Any children’s pensions payable for eligible children will still be payable if applicable. Children's pensions will still be attached to your account, even if the PSO awarded your former spouse or civil partner 100% of your pension.

If you die in service, the full death grant will continue to be payable to a nomination of your choice.

If you have previously nominated your former spouse or civil partner to receive any death grant, you may wish to update this.