Divorce and pensions from ex-partners
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Going through a divorce
You may wish to get legal advice on how to deal with your LGPS benefits during any divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership proceedings. You and your partner will need to consider how to treat your pension rights as part of any settlement.
You may need specific information about your LGPS benefits as part of the proceedings. If this is the case then you or your solicitor should contact us for this information, including an estimate of the cash equivalent value (CEV) of your pension rights. The Court will take this value into account in your settlement.
Some CEV estimates can be done free of charge but some will require a fee paid in advance. Please read our divorce charges for more information. Any other costs for supplying information or complying with a Court Order will be recovered from you and/or your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner in accordance with a schedule of charges available from the Pensions Office.
Our booklet Pensions and divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership looks at what happens to your LGPS benefits if you get divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved.
In order to provide the required information, please complete and return a hard copy of the PS02 form to this office by post.
Please note that we have up to 3 months to provide this information upon receipt of your completed PS02 form.
If you get a pension share on a divorce
If you have been awarded a pension share on divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership then you have your own LGPS benefits, known as pension credit benefits.
Your pension credit benefits provide an annual pension for the rest of your life from age 65 or your Normal Pension Age (or later if the order was issued after then). You can elect to draw your pension credit benefits on or after age 55 with a reduction for early payment. The rules relating to your payment date, can be complex - to read further information, please visit Pension Credit Member Information on the LGPS Members website. At the same time you will receive a tax-free lump sum ( three times your pension) as long as your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner had not already retired and received a lump sum when the order was issued. You also have valuable life cover.
The benefits are held in your ex-spouse/ex-civil partner's pension fund where they increase in value every year in line with the cost of living, until payment. Your pension will continue to receive cost of living increases every year, as it is paid to you.
We will provide you with the details of the value of your pension credit benefits, at the point of divorce/dissolution. We will also provide you with an online annual statement of your benefits, so you can see how their value increases every year.