Hi
We both have Civil Servant pensions.
CETVs received. Difference between them £166,000.
Been married 25 years
I am prepared to settle for half the value of the house + a cash settlement to compensate for my loss of pension (bringing up family)
I will not touch his inheritance or savings even though I am en­title­d to a share.
I have spoken to a financial advisor and he says £30,000 is a very reasonable amount to ask for as a share of his pension (­base­d on years married only)
I would prefer this rather than getting a pension-sharing order (tho it may have to be deferred for a few years when my husband can afford it from his retirement lump sum) or off-setting against the family home.
This seems a simple solution.
Has anyone made similar arrangements?
Is it realistic and fair and legal and acceptable?

Hi there

To be able to say whether your solution would be acceptable to the court it needs to be looked at in the round - one cannot only look at the pension solution in isolation. If you post your vital divorce stats (ages, length of marriage, no of children and ages, assets, liabilites, incomes and needs) someone can then tell you whether globally your proposal would be one acceptable to the court.

Amanda

As CETVs routinely understate the appropriate value of pensions for use in a divorce, especially all state schemes including the civil service scheme, then the true difference is understated. We regularly see our valuations one and a half times or more higher than the CETV on such cases. So the true difference is probably nearer £250,000. Not sure why a financial advisor would suggest you settle for only £30,000. 25 years is normally considered a long marriage and all pensions are normally taken into account, not just those accrued during marriage.

If you are going to have to wait until you retire for the cash why not go for the pension sharing route and get the full value? At retirement you can take your 25% tax-free cash, which will be of the order of £30,000 from the sharing credit alone, and you have extra pension as well.

I am 50, husband 58.The difference between our CETVs is £80,000 but after taking into account years married the figure is £60,000. So half of this, £30,000, seems a fair compensation. Otherwise we could opt for pension-sharing which will mean going through the courts at extra cost and hassle. Courts will look at all our assets. I have promised not to touch his savings and inheritance. I just want a reasonable settlement. If we get a consent order regarding pension, how much say do I have in their decision? I think that due to the long marriage (25 years) and our total assets (which I assume they will look at) they will expect my husband to give up even more than I am asking as my husband has considerably more investments than me. I don't want that and of course there will be fees involved.
Pension-sharing as I understand it, means I will gain some reckonable years and husband will lose by the same amount. And of course I must wait till I retire to reap the benefits. The true benefits are only really decided by how long a retirement I have! If I die soon after retirement I will see little of the compensation; I would rather forego a better pension and have the cash equivalent now and put it to better use.
I just want someone to tell me whether I am being sensible in my thinking.I am not looking to 'get everything I can from him' which is possibly what a solicitor would advise. My financial advisor meant that I was being very reasonable, not that it was a reasonble settlement!!

I'm sure one of our legal posters will correct me, but in general the courts go for a 50/50 split, unless someone has some needs that need to be met first. For a long marriage, such as 25 years, this would normally mean dividing all assets, not those those accrued during marriage.

You seem to be arguing that you don't want your 50% share. I don't know the whole situation so won't comment on it. However I would expect a judge being asked to give consent to the arrangement you make will question you closely to ensure you understand what you are doing.

On pensions if you want to offset his extra pension with cash then that may be a reasonable choice for you. If you are not bothered about the 50/50 split it does not seem worth getting the right valuations for the pensions.

I would suggest you rethink whether you will have enough to live on in retirement. You have a good chance for being there for a long time.