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The pension split: unfair shares?

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18 September 2019 / Grania Langdon-Down
Issue: 7856 / Categories: Features , Divorce , Pensions , Family
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Focusing on the short-term financial needs of clients on divorce can often be to the detriment of their longer-term financial security—but are family lawyers prepared to engineer the drive towards fairness & a pension sharing revolution? Grania Langdon-Down reports

The ‘elephant traps’ surrounding pensions on divorce could see a tidal swell of negligence cases against family lawyers unless they get to grips with the true value of a couple’s pensions, warns James Copson, co-author of a good practice guide.

Research for the ‘Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce’, published this summer by the Pensions Advisory Group (PAG), found that, of the 369 court files studied, 80% revealed at least one relevant pension and yet only 14% contained a pension order.

Concerns around pension advice has clearly struck a chord with family lawyers, with more than 170 solicitors, barristers, and legal executives responding to a LexisNexis/Mathieson Consulting survey on engaging pension experts in financial settlements.

Half of those responding are highly experienced

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