In this section
If you and your partner separate, your pension may be included in the financial settlement.
Divorce
Financial settlements
If you and your partner separate, your pension may be included in the financial settlement. Courts can make orders that affect how your benefits are paid, so it’s important to understand your options.
Court orders
How your pension is considered
There are two different ways that the court might consider your pension:
Earmarking order
- This can apply to all or part of your pension, lump sum or death grant.
- If you’ve already retired, payments may start immediately to your former partner.
- If you’re still building up benefits or have deferred, the order takes effect only when your benefits are paid.
Pension sharing order
- Has immediate effect.
- A percentage of your benefits is deducted to give a ‘pension credit’ to your former partner.
- They become a pension credit member of the firefighters’ pension scheme, with their own pension account.
Pension sharing orders and pension credit
How it works
If the court applies a pension sharing order, your former partner will get a pension credit in the firefighters’ pension scheme.
This will stay in the firefighters’ pension scheme until the pension credit member reaches the deferred pension age (either state pension age, age 60 or age 65) or it would be paid immediately if they have already reached that age.
Pension credits:
- Can be partly converted to a lump sum (unless a lump sum had already been taken before the order).
- Cannot be transferred to another pension scheme.
- Include a five-year guarantee – meaning that if the pension credit member dies within five years of starting to receive their pension, a death grant is paid to their estate.
- Do not include survivor benefits.