If the Court issues a Pension Sharing Order (PSO), a percentage of your scheme benefits are transferred to your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner.

Your ex-spouse or partner will hold those benefits in their own right. This is known as a pension credit. 

Your pension and any lump sum will be reduced by the percentage allocated to your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner at the point of divorce/dissolution. The reduction is called a pension debit.

The value of the pension debit will increase each year in line with the cost of living until the date of retirement when your pension is paid. When you take your pension, the increased amount will be deducted from your pension benefits. The pension debit amount will be adjusted if you take your pension before or after your normal pension age.

You may wish to increase your pension to make up for the reduction following a pension sharing order. You can find information on paying extra to increase your pension in the Paying more section.

If your LGPS pension is subject to a pension sharing order, you can still transfer your remaining benefits to another pension arrangement. If you transfer within the LGPS, your new fund will reduce your benefits by the pension debit when you take your pension.

What happens if I marry or enter into a new civil partnership?

If your LGPS benefits are subject to a pension sharing order and you:

• remarry
• enter into a new civil partnership, or
• enter into a cohabiting partnership

any spouse’s pension, civil partner’s pension or eligible cohabiting partner’s pension payable following your death will also be reduced.

If you remarry or enter into a new civil partnership and then divorce or dissolve your civil partnership again, your remaining pension rights can be subject to a further reduction.

A pension sharing order cannot be issued if an Earmarking Order has already been issued against your LGPS pension. Similarly, an earmarking order cannot be issued if your pension benefits are already subject to a pension sharing order.