The calculation of all transfer valuations on public sector pension plans has now been suspended on all pension plans held within the public sector.

This will impact on divorcing parties trying to obtain a transfer value on their pension plans for the purpose of divorce. This will affect those within the Teachers and Civil Service Schemes amongst others.

This may well cause delay in divorcing couples being able to agree and implement a pension sharing order as well as delaying actuarial pension reports.

There are ways in which parties might reach agreement on the division of all remaining financial assets and agree in principle that pensions will be shared and that can be incorporated into an agreement which can be finalised once transfer valuations or pension reports are received.

In other cases, an outline of an agreement can be reached subject to receipt of the transfer valuations. However, in other cases, particularly those involving maintenance claims, it may not be possible to reach any agreement without those crucial figures.

As pensions may be one of the most valuable assets of a marriage it is imperative to have full expert legal advice from a team which has an advanced understanding of these issues.

For more information, contact a member of our team.