Research by Scottish Widows put the typical cost of ignoring pensions to divorced women at £77,000 at retirement – but experts say retirement funds often get missed during the separation process
A divorce expert has warned how women miss out on almost £80,000 by ignoring pension pots when separating from a partner.
Pensions can be divided in a number of ways as part of the divorce process. A pension sharing order is a court order that divides a pension and sets how much should be transferred to the other person. Another way to split your pension after divorce is through a pension attachment order, which is where an ex-partner receives regular payments when the other begins drawing their pension.
However, these payments will stop if the receiving spouse remarries or the pension-holder dies. Finally, there is pension offsetting, which is where the value of a pension is offset against the value of other assets, such as property or savings. For example, one spouse might get to keep their pension while the other takes a larger share of the house.
Research by Scottish Widows put the typical cost of ignoring pensions to divorced women at £77,000 at retirement. This is because men’s pensions are much larger by their mid-40s, when most divorces happen, due to not having to take time off work for childcare. James Brien, founder of Easy Online Divorce, says the stress of getting divorced is often to blame for pensions being forgotten – but urged couples not to be left out of pocket.
He explained: “Generally speaking there’s a lack of awareness around rights to finances when it comes to divorce. It’s a common misconception that money matters are dealt with as part of your divorce proceedings. But that isn’t the case – a divorce is only the legal ending of a marriage or partnership.
“The number of pensions that are never discussed is very high and they can get overlooked for a few reasons. When it comes to divorce, people are worried that bringing pensions into it will delay things. But in a lot of cases the pension is the second biggest asset a couple has after property.”
The Mirror previously reported on how one who was owed £98,000 from her ex-husband’s pension suffered “unnecessary” stress and delays after a major admin error. Emma, 51, an NHS admin from Woking, Surrey, submitted a pensions sharing order in March 2024. There is normally a timeframe of up to four months for a pension provider to carry out the order once they have received all the necessary information – but after six months, Emma had heard nothing from her pension provider.