Pension sharing orders

Drod1

Hi there - we have a client who is getting divorced and she has contacted us for advice as her solicitor has said she needs to get advice on how best to split assets etc including his pensions etc. Shouldn't the solicitor apply to court for a potential sharing order and then we get involved?

Any guidance thanks

Sean_Fernyhough

Solicitors are notoriously bad with pensions in this situation. Perhaps the solicitor is requesting help with how to assess the value of the spouse's pension entitlements?

timblowers

If they are asking for how best to do the split i.e. 50% to one spouse 50% to the other then sounds like they want a PODE report. There's a number of actuaries that specialise in this- https://actuariesforlawyers.com/ or https://mcact.co.uk/ along with a few financial Planners such as - https://resolution.org.uk/members/stephanie-potter/ or https://www.southdownconsultants.co.uk/. If the split has been agreed and just implementation of a pension sharing order or they want advice on whether it's sufficient (i.e. cashflow planning) then wouldn't necessarily need a PODE but usually helps if someone has dealt with this in the past.