Helen Nile
Helen qualified as a solicitor in 1998 having completed her training as a solicitor with t...
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Pension Sharing and the Relevance of Age
(24th September | 14:19)
Recent press reports about the former wife of a retired Army officer, Clivena Thomas, have highlighted an important issue which always needs to be considered when financial matters following a divorce are being resolved.
Mrs Thomas received a pension sharing order against her former husband's pension as part of her financial settlement. This means that a percentage of his pension fund has been separated off to create a separate fund for her. Her former husband has now retired and is in receipt of his pension but she has been told that she will have to wait until she is aged 65 before she can draw an income from the pension credit she received in the pension sharing order.
This is in line with legislation and is something which Mrs Thomas should have been made aware of whilst negotiations in relation to her financial settlement were taking place. It is always important to consider the earliest age at which the former spouse can draw an income from a shared pension and ensure that provision is made to provide for their income in the meantime. Advice should be taken at the earliest opportunity from a pensions specialist, something which we always consider as part of the advice given to clients. This could be, for example, by agreeing an order for maintenance to be paid by the former spouse until the point at which pension income can be drawn. It is not clear from the press coverage whether Mrs Thomas was aware of this issue before she agreed to the financial settlement but if she was not, and should have been, she may have a course of action against the solicitors who advised her.
Mrs Thomas is pursuing her action on the basis that it constitutes a breach of her human rights and also that it is discrimination against her as a woman.
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Comments
- Friday 5th Dec 2008 - 20:08
I am in a similar position but in my case I was awarded 100% of my ex husbands full army pension in the divorce settlement I can also only collect it when I reach the age of 65 the unfortunate thing is that I need it now just to live on it isn't for luxuries I hope that since the Queens speech on equality the government look a little closer to home and put things right for the backbone of the forces the long suffering spouses
