A pension sharing order has no single price: there is a court fee, a charge from the pension scheme, and the order can say who pays it.
If you are trying to find out what a pension sharing order costs, it helps to split the question into three bills: the court fee, the scheme's charge for carrying the order out, and what you pay people to value the pension and draft the paperwork. This guide sets out what is published for each and who is responsible for the scheme's charge. Your own scheme's written schedule of charges is what gives its figure. What a split leaves you in retirement is a question for an adviser authorised by the FCA. To ask for a call from one, use the form on this page (no fee, a minute or two).
What a pension sharing order costs: the three bills
| Bill | Who sets it | What the sources give |
|---|---|---|
| Court fee (England and Wales) | Set by the court fees order, published by HMCTS | £62 if you ask the court to approve an agreement; £321 if the court is asked to decide |
| The scheme's charge for carrying out the order | The pension scheme or provider, within the Pensions on Divorce etc. (Charging) Regulations 2000 | MoneyHelper says the fee typically ranges from £0 to £4,250 |
| Valuation, expert report, legal and mediation costs | Whoever you instruct | Varies; GOV.UK gives about £120 for a mediation information meeting and no figure for solicitors |
The third bill is a private arrangement with each professional, so ask each for a written estimate before you instruct them. Who bears the scheme's charge is a separate question, answered under who pays the scheme's charge. What a sharing order does, and how it compares with the other ways of dividing a pension, is in what happens to your pension on divorce.
Court fees for a pension sharing order
The order itself is made as part of a financial order or consent order. GOV.UK says a consent order "explains how you’re going to divide up assets like: pensions property savings investments", and describes a financial order in the same terms. It gives two fees: "The court fee is £62" for a consent order, and "The court fee is £321" when you ask the court to decide (GOV.UK, Apply for a consent order and Get the court to decide, accessed 19 October 2026). The EX50 family court fees table, updated on 13 July 2026, lists both against "Application by consent for a financial order" and "Application for a financial order, other than by consent" (GOV.UK, Family court fees (EX50)). Fees change, so check the table on the day you file.
The fee is only part of the cost of the court route: "How much you pay in total depends on how many financial dispute resolution appointments you need and if there will be a final hearing", and agreeing is "usually more straightforward and less expensive". You may be able to get help with court fees on benefits or a low income, and legal aid is available "in certain situations", such as separating from an abusive partner.
Mediation "can be quicker and cheaper than asking a court to decide for you". If you try it, you first attend a mediation information assessment meeting: "A MIAM is usually about £120", and further sessions cost more, with fees that vary by area (GOV.UK, Mediation). The steps are in how to get a pension sharing order.
What the pension scheme can charge
Section 41 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 lets the government make regulations allowing a scheme to recover prescribed charges for pension sharing from the parties. Those regulations are the Pensions on Divorce etc. (Charging) Regulations 2000, and they set the limits. Under regulation 5, the chargeable costs are those reasonably incurred for the case, and costs that are "not directly related to the costs which arise in relation to an individual case" are left out, which keeps a scheme's general overheads away from you. Regulation 2 adds that a scheme "shall recover only those sums which represent the reasonable administrative expenses" it has incurred or is likely to incur.
Before a pension sharing order is made, a scheme that intends to charge has to tell you so in writing and provide a written schedule of charges, and a charge on the listed items is recoverable only if the schedule says it may be. The scheme must give a single estimate of the overall cost, a range of estimates that depends on the complexity of the case, or a breakdown of each element. If more than 12 months pass between the scheme's information and the order taking effect, regulation 6 lets it add interest "at a rate not exceeding increases in the retail prices index" on charges not yet due or requested but not yet recovered.
What the published ranges say
MoneyHelper says the agreed portion is "moved from one person’s name to the other for a fee. This fee typically ranges from £0 to £4,250", depending on the type of pension and on whether the share stays with the same provider (if its rules allow) or moves to a new one (snapshot of 25 March 2026). It points readers to Pensions UK's suggested range of charges: guidance from 2023, written by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association for private sector occupational schemes, which calls its ranges "indicative only":
| Type of share | Suggested range |
|---|---|
| Internal transfer, defined benefit | £3,000-£4,250 (includes about £1,250 for future scheme administration) |
| External transfer, defined benefit | £1,500-£2,500 |
| Internal transfer, defined contribution | £2,500-£3,750 |
| External transfer, defined contribution | £1,500-£2,500 |
| Processing an order on a pension already in payment | £0-£500, on top of the valuation charge |
Treat the table as a guide to scale, not a price list: the document says charges "may vary contingent on the specific circumstances of each member", and it was written for occupational schemes, not personal pensions. Defined benefit pensions are explained in our final salary pension guide, and transfer values in pension transfer values.
Who pays the scheme's charge
The order can decide. Section 24D of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 says the court "may include in the order provision about the apportionment between the parties" of the scheme's charge, and section 8A of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 says the same for Scottish orders. If the order includes that provision, the charge follows it. If it does not, section 41 of the 1999 Act says "the charge is attributable to the transferor", meaning the person whose pension rights the order relates to. Who should bear the charge, or how it should be split, is something to raise with your solicitor before the agreement is drafted.
How the scheme collects it matters too, and the Regulations list the options. Under regulation 7, a scheme can require payment before it starts to implement the order, but only if it said so no later than its reply to the notification that an order may be made, and it must send a notice within 21 days of receiving the order. Otherwise, once implementation has begun and the notice of implementation has been issued, regulation 9 allows recovery by methods that include:
- deduction from a pension credit;
- deduction from the accrued rights of the member; or
- where the pension is in payment, deduction from the member's pension benefits.
Any recovery has to comply with an apportionment in the order, and a scheme cannot recover from a party who has paid their proportion in full. Where one of you pays the other's share, regulation 8 makes it "recoverable by the party who made the payment from that other party as a debt". Deduction from the pension credit can mean the charge comes out of the share being moved, which is one reason the wording of the order matters to both of you. Charges and shares both shape later income. Submit the enquiry form on this page and a firm of advisers authorised by the FCA can go through the combined picture, State Pension and other pots included.
Valuation, expert and legal costs
The valuation. MoneyHelper notes that a cash equivalent transfer value may carry a fee where it is your second request within 12 months, or where the pension is already paying out. Asking for one is covered in how to get a pension valuation for divorce.
A pensions on divorce expert. Paying a specialist for a full written report on your pensions is an option worth weighing when you want them valued fairly. Ask for the fee and what it includes in writing; see when you might need an expert.
A solicitor. You usually pay one to help send the agreement and your financial information to the court, and GOV.UK adds: "Legal adviser fees vary depending on their experience and location." Ask whether the quote covers the pension paperwork and the correspondence with each scheme, or only the consent order. A mediator, MoneyHelper says, is "usually much cheaper than paying for legal advice", though mediators cannot give advice. Financial advice after the split is a further fee; how it is built is in pension advice cost.
Pension sharing costs in Scotland
Scotland has its own law. Section 8A of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 lets the court apportion the scheme's charge between the parties, and regulation 9 of the Charging Regulations requires a scheme's recovery to follow an apportionment made under that section, just as under section 24D. The Pensions UK guidance, written for schemes, says specialist legal advice is especially important on the position under Scottish law.
The court fees in the table are for England and Wales. MoneyHelper says a Scottish sharing order can often be finalised by registering the agreement in the Register of Deeds rather than through a court, so those fees may not apply; registration costs and Scottish court fees are not covered here, so ask the scheme for its schedule of charges and a Scottish solicitor for the rest. The Scottish routes are explained in pensions on divorce in Scotland and Northern Ireland; this guide does not cover Northern Ireland.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a pension sharing order cost?
There is no single figure. In England and Wales the court fee is £62 for a consent order or £321 if the court decides, the pension scheme's fee typically ranges from £0 to £4,250 according to MoneyHelper, and legal and expert fees vary.
Who pays pension sharing order fees on divorce?
If the order says how the scheme's charge is shared, it follows that. If it says nothing, the charge is attributable to the person whose pension is being shared. You can agree something else and ask for it to be written into the order.
Can the scheme charge me for implementing the order?
Yes, but only for reasonable administrative expenses, and only if it told the parties in writing, with a schedule of charges, before the order was made. General overheads that are not tied to your case are not chargeable.
Once the charge and the sharing arrangements are settled, a call from an adviser authorised by the FCA about the result can be set up with the form on this page; the request costs nothing.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Apply for a consent order, Get the court to decide and Mediation, accessed 19 October 2026; Family court fees (EX50), updated 13 July 2026
- MoneyHelper, How to split pensions in a divorce or dissolution (snapshot 25 March 2026)
- Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (now Pensions UK), Pension sharing on divorce (2023)
- legislation.gov.uk: Pensions on Divorce etc. (Charging) Regulations 2000, regulation 2; Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, section 41; Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 24D; Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, section 8A