ARmy Rumour SErvice

The £180 will be for the SPVA to provide a valuation of your pension (Cash Equivalent Transfer Value – CETV) which you would need to provide in your Form E Financial Statement if your ex applies for Ancillary Relief. Once you have a value you can ‘argue’ about the potential division.

As stated by others if you opt to share your pension, you will lose that amount forever (and she will get her own pension at 65 based on the size of the share at the date it was split), though if you remain serving you can continue to add to what’s left for yourself, or if you can afford it, you can buy her out with money or other assets up front now and save your pension.

It really depends on your individual situation. If solicitors get involved and due process is followed the theoretical start point for the split of marital assets (of which your pension value will probably form the largest amount) is 50:50. After that it is down to negotiation and allowances made for children and other applicable personal circumstances (on each side) – and if it goes all the way to court; it can be pretty much whatever the judge decides on the day!

You should consult a solicitor – at least you will know what your options are. Good luck.

The other point i would make is to avoid the CSA at all costs....'public sector' workers are soft target s when it comes to attachment of earnings orders.

I went through this last year. As previously posted see a solicitor. Your pension is put into the pot with all of the other assets and debts - hers as well as yours. The idea being that all assets are equalised together on a 50/50 basis.

You will have to pay to get a pension Cash Equivalent Transfer Valuation for use in divorce proceedings, the free one you get every year is no good for divorce proceedings. Once the pension share has been agreed, you will also then need to pay Glasgow to do the paperwork - she has to pay half as well. Off the top of my head I think my CETV came to just under £200 and it was about the same for the rest. I shelled out nearly £400 alone on this.

Bear in mind as well that if you have served the full whack and get an immediate pension and lump sum, then not only will your IP be reduced by the percentage specified by the court, but your lump sum will automatically be reduced by the same amount. I was married for 16 years and lost 27% of mine

Best of luck but please get a solicitor - one who is experienced in dealing with army pensions.

Berlin

Originally Posted by JoeyDeacon

The other point i would make is to avoid the CSA at all costs....'public sector' workers are soft target s when it comes to attachment of earnings orders.

My advice is completely the opposite. Engage with the CSA immediately and be completely cooperative with them. I did, with the support of my pay office. The result was no attachment of earnings order - I paid monthly by my direct debit. The funny thing was I had paid voluntarily to my ex directly for six months previous to this - all payments were online and appeared as 'Voluntary Child Maintenance Contributions' - DO NOT PAY HER CASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then got the CSA involved and I showed them my bank statements to support the fact I had been paying voluntarily. They then decided I had been paying over the odds and reduced my payments through them accordingly. My ex went spaz!!!

If you are paying off loans which were taken out for the 'good and benefit of the family' prior to your split then the CSA will take those into account and adjust your monthly maintenance downwards to reflect this. They are called 'variations' and the CSA will take them into account. I was paying for a new central heating system and some furniture and this reduced my monthly maintenance by a further £70. She then went spaz again!!!

In short, engage with the CSA and build a rapport with your caseworker. It will pay dividends - literally!

Berlin

PS. If you want to work out how much maintenance you should be paying then go here:
http://www.csacalculator.dsdni.gov.uk/calc.asp

Another thing

There is a thing called collaborative law which some family lawyers do. It's a sort of 'divorce proceedings light' - whereby you and your brief sit down informally with the other side and come to an agreement on everything (finances, custody, visiting, etc). It is then rubber-stamped by the judge. It saves potentially three court appearances, shed loads of money and reduces the scope for protracted bitching via solicitors letter (which cost £20 - £30 a go). Thing is you both have to agree to it but if you can it is time and a bit of money well spent. GET A SOLICITOR

Berlin

Originally Posted by Berlin_104s

My advice is completely the opposite. Engage with the CSA immediately and be completely cooperative with them. I did, with the support of my pay office. The result was no attachment of earnings order - I paid monthly by my direct debit. The funny thing was I had paid voluntarily to my ex directly for six months previous to this - all payments were online and appeared as 'Voluntary Child Maintenance Contributions' - DO NOT PAY HER CASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then got the CSA involved and I showed them my bank statements to support the fact I had been paying voluntarily. They then decided I had been paying over the odds and reduced my payments through them accordingly. My ex went spaz!!!

If you are paying off loans which were taken out for the 'good and benefit of the family' prior to your split then the CSA will take those into account and adjust your monthly maintenance downwards to reflect this. They are called 'variations' and the CSA will take them into account. I was paying for a new central heating system and some furniture and this reduced my monthly maintenance by a further £70. She then went spaz again!!!

In short, engage with the CSA and build a rapport with your caseworker. It will pay dividends - literally!

Berlin

PS. If you want to work out how much maintenance you should be paying then go here:
Child maintenance calculator - Child Support Agency

Thanks Berlin. I am already paying CSA, it comes out of my wages before it hits the bank. It works out at 25% of my Net pay. Any other payments to her is made via the bank fo show!

I'll get on to completing a CETV soonest, obviously in my best interest.

Thank you

Originally Posted by Berlin_104s

Another thing

There is a thing called collaborative law which some family lawyers do. It's a sort of 'divorce proceedings light' - whereby you and your brief sit down informally with the other side and come to an agreement on everything (finances, custody, visiting, etc). It is then rubber-stamped by the judge. It saves potentially three court appearances, shed loads of money and reduces the scope for protracted bitching via solicitors letter (which cost £20 - £30 a go). Thing is you both have to agree to it but if you can it is time and a bit of money well spent. GET A SOLICITOR

Berlin

I'll look into the collaborative Law route too. First things are Solicitor and CETV

Disclaimer: This does not constitute legal advice, nor may it be accurate – it is provided in good faith as an example from personal experience.

Something for you and your Ex to bear in mind when you get the CETV – it is only a theoretical calculation, the pot of money doesn’t exist (Army pensions are paid out of general taxation). It is an amount that would be required (roughly – it is only an estimate) to pay you the monthly pension you are due to get (on the date the CETV is made).

When mine came through all my Ex saw were pound signs, unfortunately (or fortunately) it doesn’t work like that.

For example: Say your CETV was £200K and your estimated monthly pension was £500. Your wife settled for (or was awarded) 20%, your pension value would be reduced by £40K, this would be transferred into your wife’s name and when she was 65 she would get her own pension of about £100 per month. When ever you retire you would get a reduced pension of about £400 (but if you continued to serve the value of your pension would increase). She isn’t going to be given £40K.

I based my offer on the following (which doesn’t have to be accepted by your wife or the court but it is worth making the case):

I had been in the army for 23 years at the time of divorce.
We had been married for 14 of those years (separated for 3).
I was earning my pension for 9 years prior to the marriage.
I should be entitled to at least half my pension for each year served.

Therefore my offer was based on a maximum of half of 11/23rds of my CETV.

Warning: Be careful what you offer without speaking to a solicitor, it can count against you later if you end up settling in court.

In a nutshell they wanted £180K, I offered £45K. We got as far as the Financial Dispute Resolution (FDR) hearing. They had come down to £85K, I had gone up to £55K. The Judge said we were very close and gave us 15 minutes to settle! I settled for £65K (Advice: My solicitor said that I must settle before the full court hearing due to the high costs involved).

I remortgaged my house and paid cash up front, preserving my pension entirely.

The real kick in the nuts was that as it dragged on for so long I had to apply (and pay) for a second CETV!

Every case is different – see a solicitor.