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Divorce: Pension sharing – timeline

Pre-Court proceedings		Before the divorce hearings begin, the parties can obtain information from their respective pension arrangements as to benefits e.g. basic valuation, pension credit arrangements, charges etc

Court proceedings		The trustees of the relevant pension scheme may be notified that a pension sharing order (“Order”) may be made in respect of the scheme.

Order made		The date on which the Order is made is not the same as the “effective date” of the Order (see below).The Order will express the pension share to be transferred to the ex-spouse as a percentage figure of the overall pension benefits.

Effective date		The effective date of the Order will be stated in the pension sharing annex (attached to the Order).

Implementation period		The implementation period is a period of four months during which the trustees must implement the Order by transferring the cash equivalent value of the relevant pension benefits to the ex-spouse.The implementation period does not begin to run until the later of (i) the effective date of the Order and (ii) the date on which the trustees are in receipt of all the information required by them to implement the Order.

Valuation day		The valuation day is the day during the four-month implementation period (see above) on which the cash equivalent value of the relevant pension benefits is actually calculated.

Order implemented		When the trustees have implemented the Order (e.g. have made a transfer payment of the appropriate sum to the ex-spouse’s pension provider), they must serve written notice on both parties to that effect.