Pensions & Divorce | Independent Financial Advice

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Bespoke Advice, Compassionate Support

We’re here to help you navigate through the very emotional and distressing process of separating your financial assets after a divorce. Specifically when it comes to pension sharing and finding a new pension for the percentage of savings you receive from your divorce.

When it comes to divorce, your pension is often the second largest financial asset to divide after a house, so it’s important that all aspects are considered, that you consider legal and financial advice and that a plan is put in place for your pension savings, post divorce.

Once you’ve gone through the mediation process or your financial assets have been divided up in court, we can help you to find a new home for your percentage of the pension savings. As independent financial advisers, we can look at the entire market when it comes to finding you the most suitable pension provider for your unique needs.

Whether you’re looking at a specific withdrawal strategy, have a risk tolerance that requires a truly bespoke strategy or have a specific price preference, we’ll work with you to ensure you receive the best solution for your requirements.

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With over 30 years of experience when it comes to financial advice, we’re here to help with whatever you need.

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Pensions & Divorce: What To Consider

Pension Sharing Order & Decree Absolute

We’ll need the pension sharing order to either be pending or finalised (this gives you the percentage of funds you’re going to receive) to start our process. Then to finalise the pension transfer, you’ll need to have the decree absolute from the courts.

The Process Isn’t Always Quick

Whilst we’ll always do our best to find you a new suitable pension provider as soon as possible, the process can take on average around 2 to 3 months to complete.

It Could Affect Means Tested Benefits

After a divorce, the receipt of additional pension benefits as income could affect the awarding of any means tested benefits you currently receive.

Access To Funds On Completion

Whilst each pension has different tax considerations and rules when it comes to withdrawing it, we’ll work with you to find a pension provider that gives you what you need in terms of accessing the funds.

Defined Benefit Pension

If your ex-partner has started to take a defined benefit pension (otherwise known as a final salary pension), which promises them a guaranteed income upon retirement, we’ll have to consider extra aspects, which could delay the process.

Cash Flow Planning

We’ll take this as an opportunity (with your permission) to work with you on a cash flow strategy which models future scenarios to help you plan effectively for your future.

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What To Expect

1

Get In Touch

Let us know your specific requirements either via our online form, email or a phone call. The more details we know, the sooner we can start to help.

2

We’ll Assess Your Needs

Our team of experts will review and assess your specific requirements, allowing us to understand your situation and how we can help.

3

Advice Tailored To You

One of our expert financial advisors will be in touch to work with you, providing bespoke advice and a tailored strategy for your needs.

How We Can Help

Going through a divorce is a very emotionally charged and upsetting process and often the last thing you want to think about is splitting up your financial assets and choosing a new pension provider for your pot.

However, after a house, the pension is often the largest financial asset that needs to be split between the two parties. We’re here to help you to find a new pension for your percentage of the pension split after the pension sharing process has been carried out.

Our expert financial advisers provide compassion and understanding alongside bespoke financial advice during what is a very distressing period. There’s no need to liaise with your ex-partner at all, we’ll handle all that, allowing you to concentrate on other important matters.

We won’t rush you in the process and we genuinely care about securing the very best solution for you and your needs. You’ll receive expert one to one support throughout and we’re here to answer any queries you may have during the process of finding a new pension provider.

FAQ’s

When Do I Need Financial Advice During A Divorce?

During a divorce, we certainly recommend that you look to take advantage of financial advice throughout the entire divorce proceedings. It’s important to seek this early to help understand your financial position and all the options you have in regards to your financial assets and debts.

There’s a lot of things to consider during a divorce, such as your home, pension, child maintenance and even who gets to keep the dog. By seeking financial advice, you can better prepare for various outcomes, take advantage of expert advice at each and every turn and understand the intricacies of financially splitting your assets after a divorce.

Here at Oakworth, when it comes to pensions and divorce, we’re here to help you find a new home for your share of the pension pot after a divorce. Once a pension sharing order has been issued, we can help you to identify a new pension provider to transfer your share to. Not only that, but we’ll work with you to create a financial plan for your future, taking into consideration different cash flow projections to ensure you have a plan in place to make the most of your money in retirement.

Can I Transfer My Pension Without Financial Advice?

Whilst you can certainly look to transfer your pension without financial advice (except in certain cases), it’s recommended that you seek financial advice as it’s a very important decision that can have an impact on your eventual retirement funds.

It’s also mandatory to take financial advice if you’re transferring a pension with safeguarded benefits, such as a pension that promises a specific level of income or other benefits upon retirement.

How Much Do Financial Advisors Charge For Pension Advice?

Each and every case we work on is unique, with different requirements, timescales and potential complications. We’ll sit down with you to discuss your needs and once we have all the relevant information about your situation and your pension needs, we can then give you an accurate quote for our services. This will all be detailed in a comprehensive investment report that we prepare and you won’t incur any costs until you give us the go ahead to proceed.

I Have A Pension Sharing Order But I Don’t Know What To Do Next?

Once you have a pension sharing order and you know the percentage or sum of the pension you’ll be receiving (known as a pension credit), we recommend that you contact a financial advisor to help determine whether an internal or external pension share is the best course of action. This is where we come in.

We’re here to help gather and advise you on your options, whether it’s possible to join your ex-partner’s pension where your share is coming from or to consider new pension providers for your pension credit. Whilst it’s rare that an ex-partners’ pension scheme will allow you to join as a member, even if they do, we’d always advise you to take a fresh, impartial look at the pension market, so you can assess how the existing scheme stacks up against the alternative options on the marketplace.

How Long Is The Process Of Finalising A Pension Sharing Order?

The process of finalising the pension sharing order when working with a financial advisor like ourselves takes on average around 2-3 months to complete. Whilst it’s been known to only take 6 weeks sometimes, we’ve also had some instances where the process has taken 18 months to finalise due to many variables. It is very much dependent on the administration department of the existing pension scheme.

We can assure you that we’ll do our utmost to complete the process as quickly as possible, without missing or rushing any of the finer details. We’ll always put you first and keep you in the loop throughout the entire process.

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Pensions & Divorce: What To Consider