Divorcing where there’s a UK-based pension? Act now!

In recent years there has been an increasing number of people moving abroad from the UK with Australia and New Zealand being the most popular destinations. Whether these expats are motivated by family reasons a sunnier climate employment or retirement there is no denying a growing trend in emigration from the UK. In fact a BBC report suggests that an estimated 5.5m British people live permanently abroad – almost one in 10 of the UK population. In addition many foreigners come to the UK and may live and work here for many years building up an asset base before returning to their country of origin.

From a legal perspective difficulties can arise when parties divorce overseas but still have assets based in the UK. Most commonly parties have lived and worked in the UK for a number of years whilst also contributing to English-based pensions. They then seek to rely upon a foreign divorce settlement to implement the pension sharing of an English-based pension (often by consent between the parties). However in...

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