What is a divorce?
An irretrievable breakdown of marriage if you have been married for at least a year.
There must be good reasons that can be evidenced e.g. adultery, irreconcilable differences, living apart for either 2 years where both parties agree to the divorce or 5 years if one party disagrees.
A divorce petition needs to be filed with the court. Then there are two stages:
A member can find out more about applying for a divorce on the gov.uk website.
Overview
Pension funds can be the largest asset after the family home. First we look at how the law relating to pensions and divorce has evolved in recent years:
1973 - The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
This Act gave the courts in England and Wales the power to take into account the value of pension arrangements when settling the matrimonial estate, although this was not compulsory.
Northern Ireland had a similar law that was introduced in 1978.
1985 - The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985
Either party to the marriage can apply to the court for an order to split the matrimonial property.
In Scotland, the value of the pension benefits had to be offset as part of the financial settlement, although the ex-spouse had no direct access to the pension.
There was no such provision in English law.
1995 - The Pensions Act 1995
This Act gave the courts in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland the power to make an "earmarking order”, in other words a percentage or fixed amount of the member’s benefits could be earmarked for the spouse to receive in the future.
This can be used for divorces petitioned (i.e. started) on or after 1 July 1996 (England and Wales). 19 August 1996 (Scotland) or 10 August 1996 (Northern Ireland).
The Act also made it compulsory for courts to take pension rights into account when determining the value of the matrimonial estate, thus effectively bringing England and Wales into line with Scotland.
1999 - The Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999
This Act introduced the option of pension sharing on divorce and became effective for divorces occurring on or after 1 December 2000.
For the first time pension rights had to be treated as any other assets and could be transferable from one spouse to another on settlement. Both the husband and wife have separate, independent pensions.
Courts did still have the option to choose offsetting or earmarking.
2004 - The Civil Partnership Act 2004
With effect from December 2005 this Act allows same sex couples to enter into a civil partnership, with rights and responsibilities similar to the legal status of married couples.
The Act introduced discretionary powers for a court on the dissolution of a civil partnership which included powers to make pension sharing and earmarking orders.
2013 - Marriage (Same Sex couples) Act 2013
This Act introduced for England and Wales on 17 July 2013, was introduced to make provision for the marriage of same sex couples.
It meant that same sex couples were given the same rights under law.
