Entitled to MY HUSBAND'S PRIVATE INVESTMENT PENSION

[Mrsshe]

Hello you kind people.

I believe my long standing case fighting an energy company has, to some extent, contributed to my anticipated divorce. After 42 years of marriage, I am considering divorce.

 

Indeed as you always advise, there are many financial factors to consider.

 

Nevertheless, in the absence of money, I need to make some preparations at this stage before letting him know of my action.

 

My husband has a private investment pension pot.

It is set up in connection to his company and he shares the scheme with one other director partner.

 

I am sorry to describe it so naively but I really have no idea of the scheme name. I know that he has included shares, a number of properties and perhaps other assets in the pot.

 

I believe he is entitled and benefits from annual cash withdrawal up to a percentage. He can add to the pot by buying and selling those, new properties and shares. This pot does not bare any connection to me.

 

However my concern is that I need to know how I can protect my share of interest in the pot in the case of divorce. He has kept all our assets within this pot and I guess immune from SHARING THEM WITH ME!

 

Once he finds out about my divorce action, he can easily empty out the pot in no time.

 

What is the name of this scheme? And can I put a freeze of some sort over his assets and at what stage? Do I have a chance or is it a lost cause?

 

I hope I can get some opinions from you kind people here; believe me, I know I should go to a lawyer! many thanks and as always I am grateful for your support.

[unclebulgaria67]

I think you would need to see a Solicitor to talk about all these issues. Divorce settlements are very complex and I doubt that there are any Solicitors on CAG wanting to offer advice. Plus I thought that there had been some recent changes to divorce proceedings, which require some form of arbitration process, where you are required to try to come to an agreement, before a court is willing to get involved.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Here are a couple of links about pensions and divorce who also have advice lines. It's difficult to offer advice without knowing what type of scheme you're talking about, but hopefully you can get a better understanding if you ring these people.

 

More paperwork would be helpful, but I understand if you don't have access to that.

 

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/splitting-pensions-during-divorce

 

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/life-events/divorce

 

I personally rate TPAS, the pensions advisory service, but the government money advice service is also free and independent.

 

Please come back and tell us how you get on.

 

HB

[goodatresearch]

He would be expected to declare all his pension on divorce and you may be entitled to some of it. I personally wouldn't agree anything with regards money during arbitration, you really need to instruct a family solicitor to deal with this, one whos experienced in the money side of divorce.

[AndyOrch]

Thread moved to General Legal Issues.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[steampowered]

You should end up with a share of it. I doubt you'd end up with a freezing order though. If he did empty the pot it would backfire on him in court (though my basic understanding of pensions is that you can't withdraw until you reach pension age).

[Mrsshe]

yes, quite right. However he has reached the age and this year he was allowed to draw a percentage tax free cash. He can do that on annual basis.

The rest of assets remain in the pot. And he can sell or buy shares, properties etc within the pot.

 

I am sure it is perfectly legal. I guess he would pay full tax on transactions within the pot. As far as it concerns me, it is a company scheme and it keeps all his assets at his disposal and away from me. What could I do? I would still not be able to stop him had I known about it before he set it up.

 

I would not be able to afford even an initial consultation with a lawyer and a pension expert. What a pity!

[goodatresearch]

Some solicitors provide free initial consultation and they would explain the cost side. To be honest, if he's allot of assets you will be entitled to a fair share and could pay the solicitor out of this. The solicitor would

Deal with the pension side of things also. There are quite robust laws re pension distribution on divorce and a good solicitor would know this.

[steampowered]

He will pay very limited tax (if any) on transactions within the pot.

 

You are wrong to think that the fact that certain assets are held in a pension keeps them away from you. When someone has a big pension, they would typically have to give information surrounding that as part of the divorce process. After a long marriage the most likely outcome would be for them to have to pay across a regular amount most likely half of what he would receive from the pension.

 

 

Hopefully you can have at least a free consultation with a solicitor or get some advice from a law centre.

[Mrsshe]

Thank you so much for your advice you beautiful people.

 

I looked at the site you suggested however they do not answer my question. At this point I have not let him know that I am contemplating divorce because I am concerned that the moment he hears about it, he would sell those assets.

 

Once divorce proceedings commence, he could justify his action as "I am businessman, I buy and sell properties all the time"; he can easily justify that hence my search to find some way to freeze those possibly on the day divorce applications is made.

 

As you suggested, I need a lawyer. I wonder if anyone could recommend one here, or is it against rules of this forum.

 

The two lawyers I visited recently wanted large deposits before instructing me as what information I need to provide them!

[Mrsshe]

Yes, he would have to share the proceedings on monthly basis. However, he is planning to prolong the period before he retires. Meanwhile he engages in transactions within the pot by buying and selling properties and shares.

 

Furthermore, he has already drawn out a good amount tax free cash thus reducing his pension value. he can do that on annual basis.

 

So at the end of the day, he can freely and drastically reduce the value of remaining pot until he retires.

 

It seems that once he retires, I shall then be entitled to a share of whatever is left. I can not force him to retire now to get a fair share of "our" life savings and achievement, can I?

[goodatresearch]

If assets are held in a pension he cannot just sell them that quickly.

[wonkeydonkey]

Thank you so much for your advice you beautiful people.

 

I looked at the site you suggested however they do not answer my question. At this point I have not let him know that I am contemplating divorce because I am concerned that the moment he hears about it, he would sell those assets.

 

Once divorce proceedings commence, he could justify his action as "I am businessman, I buy and sell properties all the time"; he can easily justify that hence my search to find some way to freeze those possibly on the day divorce applications is made.

 

As you suggested, I need a lawyer. I wonder if anyone could recommend one here, or is it against rules of this forum.

 

The two lawyers I visited recently wanted large deposits before instructing me as what information I need to provide them!

 

There will be caggers all over the UK who have used 'good' lawyers and they would be free to recommend one to you by PM but not on open forum. It would help to know where in the UK you are based?

[steampowered]

Presumably he has a SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension). My understanding is that there are strict limits on the amount which can be withdrawn. He can't just remove all the assets willy nilly. He may be able to when he reaches retirement age and the new rules which allow people to withdraw all of their private pension pot come into effect in April 2015, but even the it seems unlikely that he would make this choice since (1) withdrawal of assets would not affect your entitlement on divorce and (2) it would result in him having a huge income tax bill.

 

You should bear in mind that, if he does withdraw funds from the pension pot for whatever reason, he would have to account for that and you could trace into the assets. For example if he uses the money to buy a property or shares, then you can claim a share in the property or the shares. The explanation "I do transactions all the time" does not account for money disappearing. It is rare for people to try to stash money offshore in order to avoid legal process and it ultimately leads them down the criminal road (with imprisonment an eventual possibility).

 

I can't tell you any of this is 100% risk-free, but to be honest the risk of him being able to make his assets disappear beyond your reach is low. Honestly I do not think you should be worrying too much about this issue.

 

Realistically there is no way to freeze his assets while the divorce is ongoing. You would need very strong evidence of intent to defraud you before having any chance of obtaining a freezing order.

[Mrsshe]

Hi Wonkeydonkey

 

I am most grateful for your advice. I shall learn what PM is and will use it right away for names of lawyers. Thank you so much

[Mrsshe]

Hi steampowered

 

I am so glad and grateful for your advice. It certainly put my mind at rest to some extent. I would not dare attempt the 'intent to defraud' as I don't think he would commit such - he is too clever to do that.

 

So I am going to use PM to hopefully get names of good lawyers from fellow caggers. I live in London (North & close to centre).

 

I am ever so grateful for your comments.

[steampowered]

We generally don't condone people recommending lawyers through CAG, to avoid the site being used for commercial purposes. You might find the Law Society website helpful as it has a function for searching for local solicitors with various area of expertise.

[Mrsshe]

Many thanks for your advice. I do understand that the site might be used for commercial purposes, I sincerely hope not!

However, the law society does provide list of lawyers but I had hoped to get recommendations to benefit from personal experiences by others.

I shall post results of my first consultation here when I find the lawyer I am looking for.

[Mrsshe]

How can i delete this thread? I have resolved the problem...many thanks

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

We only delete threads for legal reasons, sorry. If everyone deleted their thread as soon as they had a resolution, CAG wouldn't be the resource for information that we are.

 

What has happened about the private pension please?

 

HB

[Mrsshe]

Hi Honeybee13

Thanks for your reply. Indeed, I understand why.

I consulted with 3 experts and did not get a straight answer.

I had difficulty to persuade them that I was not concerned with my husband breaking the law. He would not do that.

 

They generally suggested extensive international investigation into his assets to begin with. I do not agree to that for a number of reasons. The enormous cost that all demanded as down payments.

Reducing or increasing his assets are perfectly legal from commercial point of view, and it would be hard to accuse him of doing so pending the incoming divorce.

 

Conclusion: I may receive a share of whatever is left in his pot as and when divorce proceedings are taken. There will be a long time before divorce is finalised, and I can not stop his commercial lawful activities just because of pending divorce. I give up!!

[steampowered]

I think that is the correct conclusion. A pending divorce doesn't give the right to freeze a spouse's assets. Its always much better to solve these things amicably without using lawyers if you can.

[goodatresearch]

I think that is the correct conclusion. A pending divorce doesn't give the right to freeze a spouse's assets. Its always much better to solve these things amicably without using lawyers if you can.

 

A solicitor can apply for an freezing injunction. Also, the court takes a very negative view of non disclosure and can lead to criminal sanctions in extreme cases. Although it is best to stay amicable if possible, this can lead to one party being ripped off. You really need a solicitor in these cases.

[Mrsshe]

I am not worried about non-disclosure..he won't do that.

Everything he does with his pot is commercially and legally correct. I have no doubt that he would disclose everything he has, but.... within the law, he can buy/sell assets anytime. He pays his taxes fully too. So as you see, I can not even allege anything to courts to get them sympathise with me.

 

I am afraid this is the law...they should change it to force spouses to include their partners in their pot when they set it up, otherwise as far as I am told, it is not an exceptional law or a loophole. This law is designed to benefit companies not spouses. It allows them to reduce their pension funds unjustly and independently from their partners...

 

Sorry no hope.....

And thanks....

[goodatresearch]

Your looking for problems that don't exist. On divorce, the court looks at each parties assets/capital etc and distribute accordingly. Iv worked within a family/matrimonial law department by the way.