My ex's pension

[kazzianne]

Hi guys Hope you can help.When I was 20 I married and we split up when I was 29.About 4-5 years before we split up he got a job in the civil service and I was obviously on his pension as his wife.Anyway,we divorced,I got on with my life etc.We only see each other once in a blue moon and that is when kids are dropped off etc.He has been dreadful since we divorced,called me every name under the sun.3 yrs ago he re-married but still kept being dreadful to me.

The out of the blue last week he rang me,nice as pie,and said would I sign I letter removing myself from his pension as he has forgotten all about this.I said ok .Afterwards my partner said that did I realise I am entitled to a portion of his pension from the day I was put on it till I remove myself.I think this is wrong as why hasnt he taken me off years ago but I have been told he cant,even though he has a new wife - I have to sign a letter and I am entitled to my fair share.

Is this true??

[Ethel]

Not true at all. If he dies before receiving his pension the named person MAY be entitled to a 'widows pension'.

As you are not dependant on him and was only married for a short time - sign it. Do you really want to be squabbling over it if he dies prematurely?

[kazzianne]

No Ethel - I agree. I was just curious as to what the true facts were.

[dzug]

If you had a divorce settlement then this will (should anyway) have been taken into account then and you have no future entitlement. Either a small (and it will be very small) portion of his pension will be paid to you when he retires or you will have had some other asset or payment in lieu.

Your entitlement was to a proportion of the pension from the day he joined the scheme to the date of your divorce - assuming you divorced after 2000, when the rules on pension sharing came in.

Having said that I am not at all sure what you mean by 'on' and 'off' his pension.

[jason1980]

I have a pension that states after death, it is assumed that I will be married and my wife will receive half of the pension entitlement for so many years and then a quarter for so many other years. I dont have anyone named on mine, it just states my wife at the time of death - which is probably a good thing. BUT I have also heard of legal jargon, because....

When you were married to him at the time, you were legally entitled to half of assets as his wife and therefor the money paid into the pension scheme was part yours...so when it is cashed, some may also be part yours. It will need to be worked out what value of his pension that you are half entitled to, as it wont be all...just half of the interest on what was paid whilst he was only married to you. BUT again, unless it was thousands and thousands, you would be waiting upon death for perhaps a few pounds a month and it's better just to sign it - I say, but obviously I think you should perhaps speak to somebody at the Citizens Advice bureau who might be able to help further

[kazzianne]

All I know is that when he took out his pension I was put down as his beneficiary/next of kin.He is saying that he has never changed that and that he cant without mt say so which seems odd.When we divorced he never paid me a penny.I walked away with nothing.

[Ethel]

You are getting embroiled over a very, very small sum of money that you will never get if your ex lives beyond retirement age.

It's not worth the aggravation.

[dancecaller]

Talk to someone (citizen's Advice bureau may be) before you sign anything.

[alijangra]

My ex and I had a joint bank account which could not be closed without his signature, which I never got. I just had to leave the account which will now be closed through inactivity. I think the point is as you are named only you can remove yourself from it. If you dont want anything from this man then you should probably just sign.

[Miss Zippy]

Basically, you were named as a beneficiary under your former husband�s pension scheme. You lost any entitlement to benefits you had on the day you divorced (unless the Courts apportioned you a split of his pension). Had you been entitled to a portion of your husband�s pension pot on divorce, then this should have been dealt with at the time of the divorce. Pension splitting came into force on 1 December 2000, so perhaps you divorced before this date? Anyhow, even if, technically, you were entitled to anything under your former husband�s pension (ie. let�s say your solicitor dealing with your divorce was possibly negligent and did not advise you that you might be entitled to a pension split), then pursuing a claim would not be easy and would involve you having to make a claim in the Courts (only the Courts can approve pension splits). This would be a lot of trouble and expense and as someone else pointed out, as your husband only paid into the scheme for 4/5 years before you divorced, the pension pot available to be split would be very small (assuming he is/was on an 'average' income of �40k or so).

[kazzianne]

Thankyou all for taking the time to answer me.I cant be bothered with any more stress so I will just sign it for him and let the matter end.x

[julian w]

I work in the pensions industry and I would urge you very strongly to think about this further.

Your ex husband would have been required to declare his pension entitlements when you divorced and this should have been taken into account in your divorce settlement.

If he "forgot" this pension then you could potentially be entitled to half of the value of it. You would not necessarily have to split his pension up or anything that complicated.

Of course, if it has already been taken into account then it is not an issue.

This type of Pension is a much more valuable asset than most people realise. It will almost certainly be worth in excess of �10,000 and could be worth many times more than that, depending on your ex-husband's salary.

Please do take the time to check whether this pension was taken into account in your divorce settlement.

[country_boy]

I don't know the ins and outs legally but I'd keep him dangling and wind the to55er up. Or even use the signing of it (if you are going to) to set some things straight. Or ask him what it's worth and get a few quid out of him off the record! Good luck.

[zebra]

I also have a civil service pension and my now ex husband was named as next of kin/beneficary however on informing them of my change of name (going back to maiden name) they informed me to advise them of new next of kin/beneficiary as an ex is automatically removed. Also it would depend on the condtions of your divorce, I went for a ' clean break' divorce as I wanted nothing from him so therefore nothing further can be claimed from either party in the future whether it was accumulated during the marriage or not. A lot does depend on your divorce settlement.