General Chat

When I applied for my pension, I was asked for details, name, birthdate, of ex spouse. May have been asked for date of divorce, can't remember, but definitely was not asked for evidence of decree absolute, nor did I provide it.

I was claiming entirely on my record of contributions, not his, maybe that's why? I live in England.

Another issue, with the new state pension, you need 35 years of contributions to get the full amount.

But if, like me, in the years before 2016 you were 'opted out' of full national insurance contributions because you were paying into a work pension for instance, the 35 years I had worked was not enough, and I had to pay another six years worth of contributions to make up the shortfall.

It might be worth checking your state pension forecast to make sure there are no unpleasant surprises.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

This might explain the contracted out issue better than I have

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-9176435/How-state-pension-affected-contracted-out.html

I just checked and I have 46 years of full contributions. I will get my state pension 4 Dec 2028

I was lucky that I was a bit of an ‘older mum’ as I had my first just after the ‘home responsibilities’ came into being.

Same names, so whilst I was raising my children, my NI was paid under HR.

They call us "mature" mums up here as I was 33 with my first and 35 with my 2nd.

I was in a system that no longer exists. Married women could opt out of NI, apart from 4p a week, and rely on the husband's pension. When it was abolished and women were recognised as not "belonging" to their husbands, those of us in the scheme could stay in it if we wished. Under the scheme I was not eligible for sick pay, maternity pay or unemployment benefit. As I worked for the Civil Service, I could have 6 months off sick on full pay, I was past the age for maternity, and unlikely to be unemployed I didn't see the point of paying full contributions. The downside was that women retired at 60 but men not until 65, and I wasn't entitled to a state pension until OH retired.

Under the current regulations I get 1/3 of his pension and he has 2/3, but we both have occupational pensions and manage OK.