Contact the Family Team
Exeter Office
Tel: 01392 210700 Email us
St Austell Office
Tel: 01726 74433 Email us
Truro Office
Tel: 01872 265100 Email us
We have previously commented on the change in the payment date for ex-spouses benefiting from a pension sharing order (PSO) against the Armed Forces Pensions Scheme. This principle has also been extended to those benefiting from PSOs made against the NHS Pension Schemes so that the age at which payments under an NHS PSO can commence is now 55.
If you would like to apply to 'accelerate' payment then consider carefully what the effect of doing so might be to any maintenance payments you still receive. There could be an argument that the maintenance should reduce or end completely if the maintenance order was based on your pension starting at age 60.
Any payments 'brought forward' in this manner will also be subject to an actuarial reduction to reflect the greater number of years that the pension income will need to cover.
The Department for Communities and Local Government are moving to extending the principle to PSOs made against the Local Government Pension Scheme, which would allow for the early payment of pension credit rights from age 60. The effective date will be 1 April 2009 in line with the changes introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions last year.
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