A pension sharing order timeline has two clocks: the date the order takes effect, then a four-month implementation period for the scheme.

Most of the waiting in a pension split is not the scheme's. It is the court process, which sets the date the order can take effect, and the paperwork that has to reach the scheme before its own four months begin. What the shared pension will pay is a separate question; an FCA-authorised adviser would look at it alongside your whole retirement picture, and a free call from one is a single short form away, on this page.

The stages, and which legal limit sits where

  1. Valuation. Each scheme has a fixed time to value the pension.
  2. The order is made. A court approves a consent order or decides a contested one.
  3. The order takes effect. Not before the divorce is final, and after a short appeal gap.
  4. The scheme receives what it needs. Copies of the orders and details of both people.
  5. Implementation. The scheme has four months to set up the credit.

Only stages 1, 3 and 5 carry a time limit written into legislation. No law sets how long the court takes to reach stage 2. Where the court decides, GOV.UK says the first appointment is usually 12 to 14 weeks after applying, and later appointments can be several months apart. The application steps are in how to get a pension sharing order; what the order is, in what is a pension sharing order.

Asking for the valuation: the scheme's deadlines

The Pensions on Divorce etc. (Provision of Information) Regulations 2000 set the deadlines for the valuation. Where a member asks for the figure, the scheme must send it "within 3 months" of receiving the request. If the member tells the scheme on the day of the request that the figure is needed for divorce proceedings that have started, the limit is "within 6 weeks" instead, and the court can set a shorter period still. The other information a member or spouse can request, such as how the valuation is calculated and the scheme's schedule of charges, is due within one month.

MoneyHelper adds that the valuation, the cash equivalent transfer value or CETV, can take up to three months to arrive and that a court will accept it for up to a year from issue. A long gap before the hearing can therefore mean asking again. How to ask, and when a fee applies, is in how to get a pension valuation for divorce.

A separate 21-day limit, or a later date if the court sets one, applies once the scheme is told that a sharing order may be made. It must then reply with basic details, including where the order must be sent, whether an occupational scheme is winding up, and whether it will need further information.

When the order takes effect, and the 28-day rule

The order is made on one date and takes effect on another. GOV.UK says a consent order "will only take effect after you get your final order or decree absolute", and gives the same rule for a financial order the court decides. The statute behind it is section 24B of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973: a sharing order is "not to take effect unless" the divorce order it follows has been made final. The final order cannot be applied for until at least 43 days (6 weeks and 1 day) after the conditional order. If it has already been granted, see applying after decree absolute.

The 28 days come from adding two rules together. Regulation 9 of the Divorce etc. (Pensions) Regulations 2000 says an order cannot take effect "earlier than 7 days after the end of the period for filing notice of appeal against the order", and an appeal filed in time stops it taking effect until the appeal is dealt with. Rule 30.4 of the Family Procedure Rules sets that appeal period as 21 days after the decision, unless the court directs a different period. By our working, 21 days plus 7 gives 28 days from the date the order is made. The order can take effect no sooner than the later of that day and the final order, so where the final order comes after day 28, it is the final order that counts. Neither date means the scheme has acted.

When the order does take effect, section 28 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 switches on section 29: the member's rights carry a debit, and the other person gains a matching credit against the scheme. That date is the "transfer day"; the money itself moves within the scheme's four months. Changes after the order is made are in can a pension sharing order be changed.

The scheme's four months

Section 34 of the 1999 Act defines the implementation period as "the period of 4 months beginning with the later of" two days: the day the order takes effect, and the first day the scheme has received the documents and information it needs. Those are copies of the sharing order and the divorce order or decree, plus the details of both people listed in regulation 5 of the Provision of Information Regulations, among them all names used, date of birth, address and National Insurance number. A scheme can also ask for more, such as health information, if it told you so in its 21-day reply.

So the four months can start later than the order takes effect, never earlier: a scheme that has not received the pack has not started its clock. MoneyHelper's version counts the four months from when the scheme has all the information and its fees have been paid. Fees and who bears them are in what a pension sharing order costs.

Within 21 days of receiving the order the scheme must send you both a charges notice, a list of outstanding information, or a statement that it cannot implement the order. A notice of implementation, the nearest thing to a written start date, is due within 21 days of the later of the two days that start the period.

Does the order backdate the share?

Not in the way the question assumes. Under section 29, a percentage in the order is applied to the cash equivalent of the benefits "on the valuation day": a day inside the implementation period that the scheme names in writing to you both. So the share is worked out on a value struck during the scheme's four months, not on the CETV used in negotiation. Any share of a pension you are already drawing is covered in sharing a pension already in payment.

Once the credit exists, where it should sit and what income it might give later are questions to weigh with an FCA-authorised adviser; a call with one can be arranged through this page's form.

If the four months run out

Under section 33, whoever is liable for the pension credit "shall discharge his liability before the end of the implementation period". Occupational schemes face more. If the trustees or managers have not done what is required by then, they must, except in cases the regulations exclude, notify the Pensions Regulator, and under regulation 2 of the Pension Sharing (Implementation and Discharge of Liability) Regulations 2000 that notice is due within 21 days after the period ends. The Regulator's civil penalty powers can apply to any trustee or manager who failed to take all reasonable steps to get it done in time.

The Regulator can also lengthen the period, but only on the trustees' or managers' application made before it ends. The grounds include that the scheme is being wound up, that it has not been given the information it reasonably needs, and that one of you has disputed the cash equivalent. If someone applies for leave to appeal the order out of time, the period's start is postponed, or a running period stops, until the scheme receives the court's confirmation that the order stands or a copy of the varied order.

What you can do about a missed deadline in any type of pension is in how to enforce a pension sharing order. If one of you dies while the clock is running, see death before implementation.

Scotland: the two-month rule

Scottish pension sharing orders are made under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, and section 28 of the 1999 Act applies to them as well as to English and Welsh orders. It adds a rule with no English counterpart: a Scottish order, or a qualifying agreement registered in the Books of Council and Session, is "deemed never to have taken effect" if the scheme does not receive the documents and information "before the end of the period of 2 months" from the date of the extract of the decree or declarator ending the marriage. The Court of Session or sheriff can, on the application of anyone with an interest, extend that period, and can rescue an order even after the two months have run out. MoneyHelper's practical warning is that missing the deadline can mean beginning again.

Once the documents are in, the scheme's four months run as above. Scottish procedure, and Northern Ireland, are in pensions on divorce in Scotland and Northern Ireland; scheme-specific points for service pensions are in armed forces pension on divorce.

Frequently asked questions

How long do you have to implement a pension sharing order?

The scheme has four months, counted from whichever comes second: the order taking effect, or the scheme holding everything it needs.

What is the 28-day rule for a pension sharing order?

An order cannot take effect until 7 days after the appeal period ends, and that period is 21 days unless the court directs otherwise: 28 days from the order, by our working. If the final order comes later, the order cannot take effect before it.

How long does a pension sharing order take in total?

No legislation sets a total. It depends on the court route and on how soon the scheme has the documents.

What happens if the scheme misses the deadline?

For an occupational scheme, the trustees or managers must, unless a regulatory exception applies, tell the Pensions Regulator, which has civil penalty powers. The enforcement guide covers the steps you can take.

Thinking about money after the divorce as a whole? Request a free call with an FCA-authorised adviser using the form on this page and mention the pension share you are expecting.

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