Pension: What happens to my state pension and private pot after divorce? Do I split it?

Pension rules are complicated, and when divorce is involved it can get even more complicated.

State pension is received by Britons who have paid a minimum of 10 years national insurance.

A private pension on the other hand is paid as part of a legal arrangement between an employee and an employer.

What happens to your pensions after a divorce?

How divorce affects private pensions

The government’s pension advise service Pensionwise advises on how divorce impacts pensions.

It said: “When a marriage or civil partnership ends, courts deal with the pension arrangements in one of 3 ways.”

The pension is shared

This is when one person is given a percentage share of their former partner’s pension pot.

Pensionwise said: “This is known as pension sharing. The money that you get from the pension pot of your former spouse or civil partner is then legally treated as your money.”

Pension is offset

This is when the pension is offset against other assets, such as when one person gets the pension and another gets the house.

Pension is attached to someone else

This means some of your pension is paid to your former partner.

Pensionwise explained: “This is known as pension attachment or sometimes pension earmarking.

“This is like a maintenance payment directly from one person’s pension pot to their former spouse or civil partner.

“Under this arrangement, money from your tax-free lump sum can also go to your former spouse or civil partner.”

How divorce affects state pension

The state pension cannot be shared if your marriage or civil partnership comes to a legal end.

Where do you claim your state pension

The government states Britons must claim their basic state pension, and there are two way you can do it if you are based in the UK.

You can do it over the phone or by downloading the state pension claim form and sending it to your local pension centre.

Those eligible for the new state pension should get a letter two months before they reach state pension age.

They can then claim either online, via the phone by downloading the state pension claim form and sending it to their local pension centre.