Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
I've started a new thread for those of you wanting one-to-one financial guidance.
Now I've been writing quite a lot about pensions the last few weeks, particularly in relation to possible changes in the divorce laws. The government is considering looking at no fault divorces, which would speed up the divorce process. While this is probably to be welcomed some pension experts are worried that by speeding up divorce proceedings pensions may be neglected.
Let me explain a bit more. When you divorce your pension is legally acknowledged as an asset, my article here should help:
But some experts are concerned that the process may get neglected - splitting a pension (particularly the final salary kind) can make months. Now the person whose pension the name is in (largely the husband) does not benefit - the pension company takes this money.
There is a lot of evidence to suggest women in particular may not be factoring the value of a pension when it comes to the family home; prioritising keeping the home rather than bother about the pension.
But if the pension is worth a considerable amount - this can actually be taken at age 55 as an asset to pay off a mortgage.
So when you are divorcing - don't forget your pension - it could be a useful bargaining tool when divorcing and deciding what to do with the family home. If you want any more info ask away
Hi Samantha, can I clarify, that if you take your pension as a lump sum, the first 25% is tax free, but the remainder will count as income and will be taxed accordingly. In which case , it may be worth taking a limited amount each year to pay of chunks of the mortgage, if doing so keeps you in a lower tax bracket.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.