My Civil Service final salary scheme 'pension pot' is valued at £280,000. I can't access the capital value, only the monthly income paid as a pension. My wife has all of the equity from sale of the former matrimonial home at her disposal, giving her greater flexibility and choice, although notionally a smaller monthly income from bank interest etc. My solicitor originally told me that the court would ascribe a notional equivalent value to my pension pot of 1/3 x £280,000 = approx £93,000. Is this accurate, true, supported by case-law etc? Sincere thanks.

Hello

there are many opinions of the value of cetvs when offseting against other marrital assets
most seem to be accepted at 75% of cetv because of the tax to pay cant say as i have seen
one as low as 1/3 of cetv? perhaps peter@bdm can help

Skydog

There is something of a postcode lottery about how courts regard pension values when offsetting. All sorts of numbers are quoted by people going through the process, ranging from 25% upwards. None of the figures makes much sense in terms of the actual value of the pension. From what we have ascertained there is very little case law to go on. My understanding of the reason for the lack of case law is that only cases in the higher courts are officially reported, this means that there either has to be a legal appeal (very costly and likely to make the average divorce look cheap by comparison) or it is a “big money” case thereby warranting action in a higher court.

The divorces and ancillary relief cases for Mr & Mrs Average are heard in the County Court (in England), which can lead to a particular court taking a “view” on issues such as the value of pensions for offsetting. My understanding is that the good lawyers know about the approach likely to be taken by the courts in their area, and advise their clients accordingly. At least one solicitor suggested to me that they choose the court in which their case is to be heard to achieve an outcome that is most likely to favour their client!

This all means that you should probably rely upon what a good local family lawyer says is likely to be the outcome rather than seek comfort from the experience of others or even comments from people like me who are surprised at how some cases are settled.

Peter