Please find below suggested generic instruction wording that can be used to instruct Collins Pension Actuaries to prepare a Pension Sharing Report.

It is recommended that this wording is used since until there has been detailed analysis of the various pensions that the parties possess it will not always be possible to know the available options. Very often instructions are received that are not possible to follow, for example being asked to consider the retirement for a pension credit member of the Police Pension Scheme 1987 at age 55 (Police Pension Scheme 1987 pension credit members are currently only able to retire from age 60 – retirement before that age is simply not allowed).

Generic Instruction Wording

Collins Pension Actuaries is instructed to provide a Pension Sharing Report into the disclosed pensions of both parties. The Report should include a discussion of the key issues concerning Pension Sharing Orders, Offsetting and Pension Attachment Orders. The Report should suggest a Pension Share that could provide equality based on pension value and a Pension Share that could provide equality based on pension income. The Report should provide an opinion on the range of equivalent values for Offsetting purposes if Pension Sharing is not desired.

If required, the parties could request that consideration should also be given to those pension benefits that could be deemed to have accrued inside, for example, the period of marriage or cohabitation. In such cases, the parties should provide agreed dates such as the date of cohabitation and the date of separation.

If such apportionment calculations are required, then examples of the generic instruction wording that is advised are shown below:

Generic Instruction Wording for Apportionment Calculations

Calculations should be provided in respect of only those pension benefits that could be deemed to have accrued from the date of marriage (and specify the date of marriage) up to the date of separation (and specify the date of separation).

Calculations should be provided in respect of only those pension benefits that could be deemed to have accrued from the date of cohabitation (and specify the date of cohabitation) up to the date of separation (and specify the date of separation).

Calculations should be provided in respect of only those pension benefits that could be deemed to have accrued from the date of marriage (and specify the date of marriage) up to the date of the relevant Cash Equivalent Values of the pension benefits.