How is Pension Share worked out?

Steph,a few points which you need to be aware of
1 - pension share will result in a pension to you when you reach 60 but you should be able to draw this from age 55 (reduced to reflect the fact that it would be paid for longer)
2 - a 50% share will result in your husband's pension being reduced immediately (once implemented) by 50% so this may impact on his ability to make any maintenance payments
3 a 50% pension share will provide you with a higher level of income than your husband if you were to draw it from age 60 as it would be paid over a shorter period
An actuarial report would quantify the actual level of incomes resulting from specified % share and enables both parties to understand the impact.
Hope this is of use

Hello Ian - thanks for your reply. Another question if you don't mind. My ex has made an offer basically starting at his pension CETV of £270K, then deducting about £220K from this for things such as 'pension re-balance', 'non entitlement', my cetv, marital loan, outstanding debt, 50% of household debts, and value of my car (which is £1,000!). He then suggests a 50/50 split of the balance which leaves me with a princely sum of around £25K.

Ian - is this the normal way to decide on pension shares? I was under the impression that you share the assets and the pension is the only asset.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Many thanks, Steph

Steph, there is a logic in reducing the pension share to take account of your pension. If your husband is retaining 100% of any loans then it would again be fair enogh to allow for this by way of reduced share. If loans are being split 50:50 then entirley unreasonable to take into account in determining share.
I have to confess that I don't know what you mean by "pension rebalance" and "non entitlement" so am not convinced that such things should be aken into account.
Hope that's of help.

This is his description:-

'Pension rebalance' (of £56K)
Amount of pension currently taken as earnings until age 55 (income stream) £8000 x 7


'Non entitlement' (of £90,000.00)
Pension entitlement based 16 years of marriage, pension based on 24 years accumlative service therefore 8 years non entitlement

Appreciate any thoughts on this.

Many thanks

Steph, there is certainly a rationale for excluding pension assets built up pre marriage. Your solicitor should be the one to advice you as to whether this is appropriate in your circumstances.
It's far from clear as to what the "pension rebalance" is and the rationale for it.
Is he in receipt of pension?
If he is, £8k p.a. seems low for police
If he is not in receipt of pension, intends to work to age 55 but his cetv reflects right to benefits immediately (30 years service completed). Then I have some sympathy with the logic of adjusting the cetv value but disagree with the method.
Not sure if that helps.

There is no law that says you can only share the part of the pension that was built up during the marriage. The court has a discretion but yours is a longish marriage so there is no immediately obvious reason why a court wouldn't think 50% was a fair starting point.
However, you then have to look at all the other factors including the immediate effect on his income: that is the factor that causes the most problems as there is no real way of getting around it, its just the way that pensions work.
The "pension rebalance" I think is just his way of trying to allow for that, but its not an approach I have ever seen used and I doubt it stands up actuarially.