Pensions and divorce

[santamonica]

I've recently separated from my husband. He's been advised that I can claim 50% of his pension accrued since the day we married and vice versa. We had 2 children before we married and were living together for 10 years before we actually got round to tying the knot. When the kids were young I worked on and off and mainly part time so didn't actually start a pension until 9 years ago so its pretty worthless just now.

Should the 10 years prior to marriage be included in calculations when deciding what I should receive?

 

 

He walked out and is refusing to contribute any further to any household bills, we rent a house so no mortgage to worry about and kids are all grown up. I wasn't planning on asking for a share of his pension but he's left me struggling to meet ends meet every month. He always earned about £600 a month more than I did and we shared all bills. I have HP on a car that I need for work but this was taken out when we needed a second family car. I was the one who took the finance while he kept the fully paid family car. Could this be counted as a debt that he should be contributing to?

[unclebulgaria67]

This is more of a legal situation for which you need to see a Solicitor that handles divorce settlements. I am not sure you can claim anything prior to your marriage. The marriage signs you both up to accept a joint financial relationship, even though you may pay into things individually.

 

Perhaps he needs a letter from a Solicitors outlining the financial issues he needs to consider and that there is a need for all sit down to discuss. Decisions will need to be made about the financial commitments signed up to when you were living together.

 

I regularly read comments added on CAG and elsewhere, where one party to a marriage is left to deal with all the financial commitments and they end up having to deal with the debt collectors etc. It is not a fair position and the longer it is left for both parties to deal with it, the worse it will get for both parties.

[santamonica]

Thanks for your advice. We ended up in severe financial trouble about 9 years ago and went through hell trying to sort it out, I'm not going down that route again. I'll see a solicitor asap.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Here's a link to the Law Society website. It helps you find a lawyer who specialises in divorce and is local to you.

 

http://solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk/?gclid=CKm-2ub0ucQCFW3LtAodr1MANg

 

HB