My ex and I are trying to agree our finances now without a solicitor. The marital home was sold a couple of years ago when we separated and I used the small amount of equity to purchase a house for the children and I. He now pays CSA equiv for the 2 children and proposes to pay an extra 10% of salary as spousal maintenance. The only other assets are the pensions and I am not sure what to expect.

My pension is worth £15K as I gave up work 5 years ago to raise the children, his pension is worth approx £100K. We are both 38 yearsold. I realise that I will have the opportunity to pay into a pension again in the future, but I am not able to return to work yet due to toddler and when I do it will not be full time or at a salary level I would have been at if I had not given up work. His career and salary have been unaffected.

Any advice would be very helpful, or any idea of what people / websites would be the best for me to refer to.

simillar situation i have almost no pension x has quite good pension so wll yoiu let me know who or where to refer to as well please why is it the men seem to cause the problems and get away eithout penalties whilst we women cop it from all angles

If I went down the pension sharing route does anyone have an idea of the related costs?

I also need some advice regarding pensions and whether I am en­title­d to a share of my ex's. Any ideas who i should speak to (I am self repping)?
Thanks

Firstly pensions are an asset and should be bought into the settlement. For a long marriage all pensions are taken in account, for a shorter marriage only those accrued during the marriage.

The cost of a pension share can be between £500 and £1,000 for the pension scheme (they will state how much if you send them a form P), plus similar if you use solicitor to draft order. if you want an actuarial report our cost for one scheme is £600 plus VAT, which will pay for itself if you are the one getting the share; see our guide via the Pensions section in Divorce Services to see why. Plus (does it never end) if your share is not kept in the scheme then you will have the cost of setting up a personal pension to receive it.

Then again £50k of pension is not to be sneezed at.