Divorce, dissolution or annulment
How we deal with your pension when it is subject to a Pension Sharing Order, Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order as a result of an annulment or dissolution of your marriage or civil partnership.
How we deal with your pension when it is subject to a Pension Sharing Order, Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order as a result of an annulment or dissolution of your marriage or civil partnership.
If you're going through a divorce, dissolution or annulment, your Civil Service pension could be subject to a Pension Sharing Order, Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order.
This means that your spouse/civil partner may be awarded some of your pension and/or lump sum by the Court.
If your pension is subject to a Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order, the Court will instruct us to pay a specified amount of your pension and/or lump sum to your former spouse/civil partner when you retire.
If the Order is for a regular payment of a pension, the payments will stop if you should die before your former spouse/civil partner or if your former spouse/civil partner should marry or enter into a civil partnership in the future. Your former spouse/civil partner’s right to a lump sum does not stop on remarriage, but the Order will stop if your former spouse/civil partner dies before you.
When your employer tells us of your retirement date they will contact you and your former spouse/civil partner to check that the Pension Attachment or Earmarking Order is still valid, and to get bank details so that we can make the necessary payments.
If your pension is subject to a Pension Sharing Order, your benefits will reduce by the percentage specified in the Court Order. In Scotland, the Order will state a cash amount rather than a percentage. Pension sharing is a permanent transfer of your benefits and will not revert back to you on the death of your former spouse/civil partner.
Your former spouse/civil partner will get a pension credit. This is a percentage of the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) of your pension which is then converted into benefits for your former spouse/civil partner. Your former spouse or civil partner’s share of the pension is worked out using factors appropriate to their age and gender. The pension paid to them could be higher or lower than the amount you are giving up.
Your legal adviser will be able to explain the full implications of a Pension Sharing Order, Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order.
If you retire early taking your Civil Service pension under the Compensation Scheme arrangements, and your Civil Service pension is subject to a Pension Sharing Order, the debit will be applied at the point the benefits begin to be paid.
We work out the amount of benefits to be transferred, taking into account benefits up to the effective date. In England and Wales, the effective date is 28 days after the Court Order is made or when the Decree Absolute or Certificate of Dissolution is issued, if this is later. In Scotland, the Order takes effect from the date of the Extract Decree of Divorce or Certificate of Dissolution.
We will apply the percentage or amount stated in the Order to the estimated value of your benefits at the effective date. They will then organise for this amount to be transferred, in the form of pension benefits, to your former spouse or civil partner. When dealing with Orders under Scottish law, MyCSP will transfer the amount of money quoted in the order. The Order may also state that you must transfer a percentage (or amount, as appropriate) of your benefits built up in the Civil Service Additional Voluntary Contribution Scheme (CSAVCS) to your former spouse or civil partner. If so, a percentage, worked out up to the effective date, or amount is transferred from your CSAVCS fund to an appropriate pension arrangement of their choice.
You, or your solicitor, must tell us in writing, the likely terms of the Court Order when you know them.
The Court will need details of your pension benefits when deciding whether to grant a Pension Sharing Order, Pension Attachment Order or Earmarking Order. If you are still in service, a former member not yet in receipt of your pension or a pensioner, and need an estimate of the value of the pension you have built up, you can ask us for a CETV estimate when you tell them about the divorce/dissolution proceedings.
If you are currently in service or a former member and not yet getting your pension, you can get a CETV estimate free of charge. If you are in receipt of your pension there will be a charge. We will charge for some of the services and information they provide. The Court Order must state who is liable to pay any charges. See Appendix B for the list of charges.
You are likely to be asked to provide the Court with details of your pension scheme booklet to explain how it works. You will find this in the pension schemes section.
You must send the actual Court Order to us as soon as you receive it, along with the Decree Absolute, Certificate of Dissolution or Extract Decree of Divorce and any other information you are asked to provide.
If you are leaving on actuarially reduced or ill health retirement terms, the debit will be applied at the point the benefits begin to be paid; however, the debit will also be actuarially reduced.
The Court decides who is responsible for paying the service charges. It can decide that you or your former spouse or civil partner must pay the costs; alternatively, it may decide that the costs are split between you. If you do have to pay costs, you must send a payment as soon as we ask for it. They will not be able to proceed with implementing the Court Order without payment.
If you're already getting your Civil Service pension, there is likely to be an overpayment of your pension, which you will have to pay back. The overpayment is because the start of your new lower rate of pension is backdated to the effective date, and the pensions payroll provider cannot reduce your pension until they have received all the paperwork and associated payments for providing the service.
If you nominated your former spouse or civil partner to receive your death benefit lump sum, the nomination will be cancelled when you're divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved. You must therefore either nominate someone new or re-nominate your former spouse or civil partner to receive your death benefit lump sum after your divorce or dissolution.
You'll receive an amount of pension and/or lump sum, as specified in the court order. If the order is for a regular payment of a pension, the payments will stop if your former spouse/civil partner dies or if you get married/enter into a civil partnership in the future.
Under a pension sharing order, the CETV of the member’s pension converts into a pension and, in certain circumstances, a lump sum. The pension will not provide dependant benefits but may pay a death benefit lump sum in certain circumstances.
The pension credit is worked out using actuarial factors and is paid from your Normal Pension Age (NPA). For classic, premium, classic plus and nuvos the NPA is age 60. For alpha the NPA is the later of age 65, or your State Pension Age (SPA). If you have already reached your NPA, the pension credit will be payable from the effective date.
You can claim your pension from 55 onwards but be aware that, if you take it before your NPA, your pension will be significantly reduced because of early payment.
If you have an illness where your life expectancy is less than 12 months, we will convert your pension into a lump sum payment.
We'll write to you, confirming that they have set up a pension record for you. If the Order states that you are responsible for paying some or all of the charges associated with the divorce/dissolution, we'll ask you to pay your share of the service charges.
They will not implement the Court Order until they have received payment from you and, if applicable, the member.
You must contact us 3 months before your NPA. If you wish to take your pension before your NPA, please remember you will still need to give us 3 months’ notice.
We will send you a Personal Details Form to complete. We may already hold a lot of the information which will have been included on the Court Order, for example, your address. However, you will need to confirm that the details have remained the same, and to provide bank account details and other essential information.
You will be put into the same pension scheme as your former spouse/civil partner.
You may be entitled to a cash lump sum provided your former spouse/civil partner has not already taken a cash lump sum in respect of the shared benefits prior to the effective date of the pension sharing order.
For every £1 of the annual pension amount you give up, you will get £12 in return. If you are in the classic scheme, you can convert pension into an additional cash lump sum if:
There is a limit to what you are allowed to convert; we will tell you more about this when you claim your pension.
The benefits entitlements are worked out according to the rules of each scheme.
If the pension credit member dies before benefits become payable, 25% of the value of the pension credit will be paid, as a lump sum payment, to their nominee/personal representative.
If the pension credit member dies before age 75 and before any benefits become payable, 25% of the value of the pension credit will be paid, as a lump sum payment, to their nominee/personal representative.
If the pension credit member dies having received benefits, then the nominee/personal representative will get the balance of 5 x initial pension and lump sum.
When you have been provided with details of your pension benefits, you should add a death benefit nomination to nominate the person you want as a beneficiary. You’re allowed to nominate more than one person if you are in the premium, classic plus, nuvos or alpha scheme.