Divorce & Pension Rights
Introduction
The sad fact of the matter is that many marriages do end in divorce. Whatever emotional mess that may result in, it may also have profound implications for any pension arrangements made by soon-to-be ex-spouses. How pensions are treated in divorce is governed by the Pensions Act 1995 and the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.
A child carer (usually the wife) may have little prospect of being able to build up a pension provision of her own whereas the main earner of the household (usually the husband) has the prospect of continued earnings to build up a retirement fund. In the event of divorce there are three ways of sharing the value of a pension:
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