Divorce After
Police Retirement
Dividing a police pension that is already being paid works differently from dividing one that is still building up. The officer's pension is cut straight away, the former partner may have to wait years for theirs and gets no lump sum, and the lump sum already taken raises its own questions. This guide explains each step for retired officers and their partners.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 19 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
The scheme values it with a pensioner cash equivalent (for divorce only, and it can charge for it). If a sharing order is made, the officer's pension is reduced by the order's percentage once it is implemented, backdated where there is a delay. The former partner gets their own police pension, paid from 60 (1987 scheme), 65 (2006) or State Pension age (2015), or straight away if older, but no lump sum, because a credit from a pension in payment is a disqualifying pension credit. That can leave an income gap for both of you.
What changes when the pension is already being paid
Most divorce guidance assumes the officer is still serving. Once the officer has retired, the pension is no longer a promise of future income but a monthly payment both of you may be relying on. The law on sharing it is the same (Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973), and PAG2 confirms that sharing orders can be made against "pensions in payment" (para 3.5). What changes is how it is valued, when each of you feels the effect, and what the former partner can draw.
| Officer still serving or deferred | Officer already retired | |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | Cash equivalent (CETV), the same basis as a transfer value | Pensioner cash equivalent, for divorce only (PETV in Scotland) |
| Cost of the valuation | One free in any 12 months | The scheme may charge (e.g. Met £1,360, 2023 schedule; SPPA £1,080 standard from April 2026) |
| When the officer feels the debit | When the pension starts, after revaluation and adjustment for retirement age | Straight away: the pension in payment is cut once the order is implemented |
| Officer's lump sum | Reduced by the debit (directly in 2006, through commutation in 1987 and 2015) | Already paid. The scheme does not take it back |
| Former partner's lump sum | Available under the scheme rules at their payment age | Not available: a credit from a pension in payment is a "disqualifying pension credit" |
| Former partner's pension starts | 60 (1987), 65 (2006), State Pension age (2015) | The same ages, or straight away if they are already older |
| Main trap | The CETV assumptions (deferred pension age, serving on) | An income gap: the officer's pension falls at once while the ex may wait years |
This page is for England and Wales unless stated, with Scottish practice noted where SPPA publishes it. If you are still deciding whether to share at all, read offsetting vs sharing alongside it: the trade-offs are sharper after retirement, because there is less time and less earning power to rebuild.
| Your situation | What usually matters most | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Both of you are past the credit age (60, 65 or State Pension age, by scheme) | No income gap: a credit is paid as soon as the order is implemented. The questions are the percentage, tax and the survivor position | The immediate cut; the ex's pension; new partner and death |
| The officer retired recently and the former partner is younger | The income gap, maintenance until the credit starts, and whether capital now (offsetting) suits the former partner better | The income gap; maintenance; offsetting |
| The officer retired before 55 from the 1987 scheme | The pension jumps at 55, so payslips understate it; check the valuation includes the adjustment | Retired under 55 |
| The officer retired on ill-health grounds | A lower pensioner CE, needs if neither can work, and how any injury award is treated | Ill-health pensions |
| The officer has 2015 to 2022 service | Whether the McCloud immediate choice has been made, and the greater-of valuation | McCloud |
| The officer is about to retire and the divorce is under way | Timing: a credit from a pension already in payment carries no lump sum for the former partner | No lump sum |
If you are the retired officer, the main shocks are the immediate cut to your pension and, if you remarry, a smaller survivor's pension for your new partner. If you are the former partner, the main shocks are that you may have to wait for your pension, and that you cannot take a lump sum from it. Working through the income of each of you, year by year, is the most useful thing you can do before agreeing anything.
How a pension in payment is valued: the pensioner cash equivalent
A retired officer is not entitled to a transfer value, so the schemes produce a special valuation for divorce: a "pensioner cash equivalent" (SPPA calls it a Pensioner Equivalent Transfer Value, or PETV). GAD's guidance tells administrators to calculate it from separate pensioner tables, and it is used only for divorce and dissolution. The rules on it are spread across several documents, summarised here.
| Point | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What is valued | The pension actually in payment (and the survivor's benefits that go with it), using GAD's pensioner divorce tables. Scottish PETVs use the gross annual pension in payment | GAD 1987 note paras 3.27 and 3.42; SPPA leaflet s.3.2 |
| Only for divorce | A pensioner is not entitled to a transfer value, so this valuation exists only for divorce and dissolution | GAD 1987 note para 3.42 |
| Charges | The free-valuation rule does not cover someone who is not entitled to a cash equivalent, so a pensioner valuation can be charged. Charges must be notified in writing in advance | Charging Regulations 2000 reg 3(2)(b); reg 2 |
| Time limits | 3 months, or 6 weeks if the request says it is for divorce proceedings, or shorter if the court sets it | Provision of Information Regulations 2000 reg 2 |
| Ill-health pensioners | Valued on tables that assume heavier mortality, so the CE is lower than for a normal-health pensioner with the same pension | GAD 1987 note paras 3.28 to 3.29; PAG2 para I.34 |
| Under 55 (1987) | The CE leaves out pension increases built up but not yet paid and adds a separate adjustment for them | GAD 1987 note paras 3.33 and 3.40 to 3.41 |
| Scotland | SPPA does not apportion a PETV to the marriage period or calculate one to past dates; redundancy and efficiency enhancements are not shared | SPPA leaflet ss.3.2 and 4 |
| 2026 factors | GAD re-issued the police pensioner divorce tables (301 to 312) on 21 May 2026, implemented from 19 May | GAD consolidated factor workbook |
Charges. For serving and deferred officers, the first divorce CETV in any 12 months is free. For a pensioner the scheme may charge, because the Charging Regulations allow a charge where the member "is not entitled to a cash equivalent". The Met's published schedule (2023 version, uprated each April) lists £1,360 for a pensioner CETV; SPPA lists a PETV at £1,080 including VAT for a standard case from April 2026. Ask for the current charge before you request one.
Which part of the pension. In England and Wales a sharing order is a percentage of the whole pensioner CE, not just the part earned during the marriage; any argument about pre-marital service is dealt with in the percentage you agree. In Scotland only the marriage-period share is matrimonial property, but SPPA says it does not apportion a PETV itself; that is for the solicitors, the court or an actuary (leaflet s.3.2). See police divorce in Scotland.
What the valuation letter should tell you
- the gross annual pension in payment, split by scheme if more than one, and the date of retirement;
- the pensioner cash equivalent for each scheme and its calculation date (after 19 May 2026 means the new factors);
- whether the officer retired on ill-health grounds, which changes the tables used;
- for a 1987 pensioner under 55, whether the adjustment for deferred increases is included;
- for 2015 to 2022 service, whether a McCloud choice has been made and how that service was valued;
- the ages from which a credit would be paid, and the scheme's charges for valuation and implementation.
If any of these is missing, ask for it in writing. Form P, the pension inquiry form, is the court's standard way to ask a scheme for this information.
Retired from Police Scotland or a Scottish force
SPPA administers the Scottish police schemes and publishes its own leaflet. For a pensioner, the request for a PETV does not need the dates of marriage and separation, but must say it is for divorce or dissolution; SPPA has 3 months to supply it (ss.4 and 11). The order or minute of agreement states a cash amount, which the scheme turns into a percentage, and the papers must reach SPPA within two months beginning with the date of the extract of the divorce decree, or the order is treated as never having taken effect, unless the court extends the time (WRPA s.28(7) to (10)). That date is not the same as the "relevant date" used to value matrimonial property. SPPA treats the date it receives everything, including its charge, as the implementation date.
If the officer works again. PAG2 warns that where a retired public sector member rejoins the same sector, their pension may be abated, so a payslip can show a "misleadingly low" figure (paras I.39 to I.40). If the retired officer is back in policing, see working after retirement and abatement.
The immediate cut to the officer's pension
When the officer is already being paid, GAD's guidance says the debit applies immediately to the pension in payment (1987 note para 3.58). The debit is the officer's pension multiplied by the order's percentage (para 3.61). There is no waiting for a retirement date and no adjustment for retiring early or late, because retirement has already happened.
Backdating. SPPA's leaflet sets out what happens in practice in Scotland: the pension "would continue to be paid at the full rate until the pension share is implemented", then the reduction is backdated to the implementation date "and the overpayment of pension which accrued would be recovered" (s.3.3). In England and Wales the reduction legally runs from the day the order takes effect (WRPA ss.29 and 31), and GAD's notes apply debits "with effect from transfer day". We could not find an English or Welsh administrator's published statement on how the overpayment between that day and the first reduced payment is recovered, so ask yours.
Suppose a retired officer's 1987 pension is £24,000 a year and the order shares 40%. The debit is £24,000 x 40% = £9,600 a year, or £800 a month. The officer's pension falls to £14,400 a year. If the full pension keeps being paid for, say, three months after the reduction should have started, the overpayment would be 3 x £800 = £2,400, which the scheme would expect back. Set money aside for it. This is arithmetic on invented figures, not a prediction of your case.
From order to first reduced payment
| Stage | What happens | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | Pensioner cash equivalent requested for divorce; the scheme may charge | 3 months, or 6 weeks if told it is for divorce proceedings |
| Financial order | Agreed by consent order or decided by the court; the order includes a Form P1 annex for each pension shared | The order cannot take effect until the divorce is final (MCA s.24B) |
| Appeal window | The sharing order cannot take effect earlier than 7 days after the period for filing notice of appeal ends | Divorce etc. (Pensions) Regulations 2000 reg 9 |
| Transfer day | The order takes effect: the debit and credit are created, on benefits as at that day | WRPA s.29 |
| Implementation | The scheme has 4 months from the later of the transfer day and receiving the papers and information (and, in practice, its charge) | WRPA s.34 |
| First reduced payment | The officer's pension is paid at the reduced rate; any overpayment since the reduction should have started is recovered | SPPA leaflet s.3.3 (Scotland); ask your administrator |
| Credit age | The former partner's pension starts: 60, 65 or State Pension age, or straight away if older | 1987 reg M1; 2006 reg 61; 2015 reg 126 |
The months between the transfer day and the first reduced payment are where overpayments build up. If you are the officer, ask the administrator when the reduction will start and how it will recover any overpayment (in one go, or over several payments), and keep the difference aside until you know.
Implementation fees. Sharing a pension in payment still costs an implementation fee. The Met's 2023 schedule lists £3,600 for pensioners; SPPA lists £4,320 including VAT for a standard CETV or PETV sharing order from April 2026. Charges are usually payable up front, and SPPA says it will not start the implementation period until its charge is paid.
No buying it back. The shared pension cannot be replaced. The 2006 regulations say a debit member may not replace debited rights with rights they could not otherwise have acquired (reg 56(5)), and SPPA says it is not possible to replace benefits that have been shared. For a retired officer, the cut is permanent.
What is not cut. The officer's lump sum has already been paid, so the debit has nothing to bite on there. Children's pensions are not reduced by a debit in any of the schemes.
The former partner's pension: when it starts and what it is
A pension sharing order gives the former partner a pension credit: their own membership of the police scheme, separate from the officer. It is paid for life and is not affected by the officer's later death, remarriage or choices. When it starts depends on the scheme the shared pension was built up in:
- 1987 scheme: from 60, or when the order takes effect if that is later (reg M1). So a former partner who is already 60 or over is paid straight away.
- 2006 scheme: from 65, or when the order takes effect if that is later (reg 61(1)).
- 2015 scheme: from State Pension age, or immediately if the former partner is already over it (GAD 2015 note). The regulations also allow a reduced pension from 55; we could not confirm how administrators price that.
Before it starts, the credit is increased in line with CPI under the Pensions (Increase) Acts. It cannot be transferred to another pension (1987 reg F10A; 2006 reg 79; 2015 reg 180(3)), it pays no survivor's pension when the former partner dies, and remarrying does not affect it (SPPA leaflet s.8). Because the credit is worked out from the credit cash equivalent using GAD's credit factors, the former partner's pension is not simply the same amount as the officer's debit: ask the administrator for both figures.
If the former partner is already over the credit age
Where the former partner has already reached the credit age when the order takes effect (60 for a 1987 credit, 65 for a 2006 credit, State Pension age for a 2015 credit), the credit is payable from when the order takes effect. In practice that means from when the scheme implements it, so there is no waiting period and no income gap. The two of you then receive two separate pensions, each taxed as the recipient's own income. The other rules still apply: no lump sum from a credit made from a pension in payment, no survivor's pension on the credit, and no transfer out.
| 1987 scheme | 2006 scheme | 2015 scheme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Officer's pension in payment | Reduced by the order's percentage once implemented | Reduced by the order's percentage once implemented | Reduced by the order's percentage once implemented |
| Former partner's credit paid from | 60, or when the order takes effect if later | 65, or when the order takes effect if later | State Pension age, or straight away if older; reduced from 55 possible |
| Former partner's lump sum | None if the officer had already commuted (reg M2) | None: disqualifying pension credit (reg 61(4)) | None if the officer had already taken a lump sum (reg 131(5)) |
| If the former partner dies before the credit is paid | Lump sum of 2.25 times the pension (reg M4) | Lump sum of 3 times the pension at 65 (reg 63) | Lump sum of 3 times the pension as if at State Pension age (reg 162) |
| Later spouse's survivor pension | Reduced by a survivor debit (reg C10) | Ask the administrator how the survivor debit applies | Reduced by a survivor debit (reg 138) |
| Transfer of the credit to another pension | Not allowed (reg F10A) | Not allowed (reg 79) | Not allowed (reg 180(3)) |
Sources for the table: Police Pensions Regulations 1987 Part M and regs C10 and F10A (as inserted by SI 2002/3202); Police Pensions Regulations 2006 regs 61 to 63 and 79; Police Pensions Regulations 2015 regs 126, 131, 138, 162 and 180. We did not find the 2006 scheme's survivor debit rule in the text we read, so we have not stated it.
Tax on the two pensions. Both the officer's reduced pension and the former partner's credit pension are taxable income for whoever receives it. PAG2's worked example on a pension already in payment notes that splitting a pension can mean less tax overall, because the receiving spouse can use their own personal allowance (para 7.23). Whether that applies to you depends on your other income; a tax adviser can help with that side.
Many retired officers have pension from more than one scheme. Each part is shared under its own scheme's rules, so a former partner can end up with two credits paid at different ages. The guide for partners explains the credit in more detail.
No lump sum for the former partner: the disqualifying pension credit
When a pension already in payment is shared, the credit it creates is a "disqualifying pension credit". HMRC's manual explains that a credit is disqualifying if, when it was created, the pension being shared was already in payment, and that rights from it cannot support a tax-free pension commencement lump sum (PTM063230; Finance Act 2004 Sch 29 para 2(3)). The police schemes follow that through in their own rules.
| Scheme | Former partner's lump sum if the order shares a pension already in payment | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | None, if the officer had already received a commutation lump sum before the order took effect. (Normally a credit member can commute up to a quarter, capped at 2.25 times the pension.) | Police Pensions Regulations 1987 reg M2 (inserted by SI 2002/3202) |
| 2006 | No automatic lump sum: it is not payable on a disqualifying pension credit. (Normally 4 times the pension.) | Police Pensions Regulations 2006 reg 61(4) |
| 2015 | None, if the officer had already received a retirement lump sum before the order took effect. (Normally £12 for each £1 of pension given up.) | Police Pensions Regulations 2015 reg 131(5) |
| Tax, all schemes | Rights from a disqualifying pension credit cannot support a tax-free pension commencement lump sum | Finance Act 2004 Sch 29 para 2(3); HMRC PTM063230 |
In practice this means the former partner of a retired officer gets income only. That matters in negotiations: a former partner who needs capital, for example to rehouse, cannot get it from the pension share, which is one reason offsetting or a different split of the home is often discussed after retirement. It also means the officer's lump sum, already paid, is the only lump sum in the picture.
The rule turns on whether the shared pension was in payment when the credit was created, not on how old either of you is. If an officer is close to retiring and the divorce is close to finishing, which happens first can change whether the former partner gets a lump sum. That is a timing question to raise with your solicitor before the officer retires, not after.
The income gap: the officer's pension falls now, the ex waits
PAG2 calls this an "income gap" and names the 1987 police scheme as an example: a sharing order "can result in an immediate reduction in a pension that is already in payment", while the credit member "may have to wait for a number of years" before they can take their benefits (para I.24). During that wait, the shared part of the pension is paid to nobody.
| Step | Illustration (made-up round numbers) |
|---|---|
| Officer's 1987 pension in payment | £24,000 a year |
| Sharing order | 40% |
| Debit on the pension in payment | £24,000 x 40% = £9,600 a year (£800 a month) |
| Officer's pension after the order | £24,000 - £9,600 = £14,400 a year |
| Former partner's age when the order takes effect | 52 |
| Former partner's 1987 credit paid from | 60, so 8 years later |
| Pension the household no longer receives during the wait | £9,600 x 8 = £76,800 (before tax and annual increases) |
In this made-up example, £76,800 of gross pension is lost to the two of you combined over 8 years, before tax and annual increases. The former partner's credit pension is worked out separately from the credit cash equivalent, so it will not necessarily equal the £9,600 debit when it starts. For a 2006 scheme pension the wait would run to 65, and for a 2015 scheme pension to State Pension age.
Ways people deal with the gap, which a solicitor or expert can weigh up for your case:
- a lower sharing percentage plus more of the home or savings to the former partner (partial offsetting);
- spousal maintenance from the officer's pension income until the credit starts (see below);
- an attachment order on part of the pension in payment, which pays the former partner now but ends on death and has other drawbacks;
- an expert calculation of an equal income split that allows for the different start dates.
Each has costs and risks, explained in offsetting vs sharing. None is automatically right.
Offsetting a pension that is already being paid
PAG2's guidance on offsetting has three points that apply directly once the officer has retired:
- Which value. Valuing the benefits the pension holder keeps is usually PAG2's preferred basis, but it says that approach may be "unfair or misleading" where both parties are already retired or there is a big age difference, and the expert should then show the competing figures (para 7.21).
- Tax. PAG2's usual 15% to 30% tax adjustment assumes a quarter is tax-free. It says the adjustment can be higher "where pensions are already in payment" (para 7.31), because the tax-free lump sum has already been taken.
- Utility. The closer the parties are to retirement, the more the case for a "cash now" adjustment diminishes (para 7.41). After retirement, that argument is weaker still.
PAG2 also says that in needs cases with significant defined benefit pensions, dividing the pensions separately on an equal income basis will often be the right analysis (para 1.17). After retirement, income is usually what both of you are living on, which is why an expert's year-by-year income figures are so useful.
Retired under 55 from the 1987 scheme: deferred increases
Officers who retired from the 1987 scheme before 55, other than on ill-health grounds, do not receive annual pension increases on their own pension until they reach 55 (Pensions (Increase) Act 1971 s.3(2)). At 55 the increases built up since retirement are added. PAG2 says this can mean "a very large increase in the pension at age 55", so a pension in payment to someone in their early 50s can look "misleadingly" low, and practitioners "should therefore be wary" (para I.28).
- How GAD deals with it. The pensioner CE leaves out the increases that have built up but are not yet paid, and adds a separate adjustment for them (GAD 1987 note paras 3.33 and 3.40 to 3.41, "Adjustment B"). Ask the administrator to confirm it is included.
- Payslips. Form E figures and any maintenance discussion based on the current payslip will understate the pension the officer will get from 55.
- Ill-health retirements under 55. Where a 2006 or 2015 scheme officer has retired on ill-health under 55 and increases are not payable until 55, GAD tells administrators to refer the case to the Home Office (GAD 2006 and 2015 notes).
For the former partner, this means the pension being shared is worth more than the payslip suggests, so check the valuation before agreeing a percentage or an offset. For the officer, it means income from 55 will be higher than now, which matters for any maintenance discussion and for how much the debit will feel like once increases are added. Neither of you should rely on the current monthly figure alone.
See the police pension increase guide for how the yearly increase is set.
Ill-health pensioners: a lower valuation, and injury awards
An ill-health pension is shared like any other: the debit applies to ill-health awards in all three schemes (1987 reg B12; 2006 reg 36; 2015 reg 71 with WRPA s.31). But the valuation is different.
- Lower pensioner CE. GAD uses separate tables for ill-health pensioners that assume heavier mortality, so the CE "of a member who retired due to ill health will be lower" than that of a normal-health pensioner (PAG2 para I.34; GAD 1987 note paras 3.28 to 3.29).
- The credit is valued on normal health. There is only one set of tables for credit members. PAG2 notes that if the former partner is in poor health, sharing loses value, and that in some cases the opposite may apply where the officer is the one in poor health (paras I.35 to I.36).
- Injury awards. For a 1987 pension, the Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006 say a pension reduced by a debit is treated as not reduced when the injury pension is worked out (Sch 3 para 6(2)(c)). So a debit is not topped up by a larger injury award. Whether an injury award itself can be shared is generally understood to be no, but we found no primary source that says so in terms.
PAG2 also describes an unusual arrangement for cases where the officer has a much shorter life expectancy: sharing more of the pension to a healthy former partner and then attaching part of the new credit back to the officer for their lifetime (paras I.36 to I.37). It needs the former partner's co-operation and their ability to draw benefits straight away, so in police cases it would only work where the former partner has reached the credit age. It is a specialist option for an expert and solicitor to consider, not a standard route.
Needs often weigh heavily where one of you cannot work. The ill-health pension and divorce guide and injury awards and divorce go into more detail.
The lump sum already taken
Most retired officers took a lump sum at retirement: by commutation in the 1987 and 2015 schemes, or the automatic lump sum in the 2006 scheme. Divorcing couples often ask what happens to it.
- The scheme does not take it back. The pensioner cash equivalent values the pension still being paid. A sharing order reduces that pension; it does not reach money already paid out.
- Commutation already shrank the pension. In the 1987 and 2015 schemes, taking a lump sum meant giving up pension, so the pension being valued is already the smaller, post-commutation figure.
- What is left of it is part of your finances. If the lump sum paid off the mortgage, sits in savings or was spent on the family, that shows up in the assets on Form E.
- How it is treated is a legal question. Whether a lump sum, or what it bought, is treated as matrimonial property, and how much weight it gets in the split, depends on the facts and on case law. That is for your solicitor to advise on and, if you cannot agree, for the court. We do not take a view.
For the tax position on lump sums generally, see the lump sum allowance and police pensions.
Spousal maintenance from pension income
After retirement, the officer's pension is often the main income in the household. A court considering maintenance looks at all income and resources, needs, the standard of living, ages, the length of the marriage and the other factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and must consider whether a clean break is possible (s.25A). There is no formula.
- Sharing and maintenance interact. A sharing order moves income from the officer to the former partner, but only from the credit age. Maintenance can cover the years before.
- Maintenance is not permanent security. Periodical payments cannot run beyond the death of either of you and end if the recipient remarries or forms a civil partnership (s.28(1)(a)). A pension credit, by contrast, is paid for life.
- Attachment. The court can attach part of the pension in payment so the scheme pays it direct, but it is a form of maintenance with the same limits, and it cannot sit alongside a sharing order of the same pension in the same marriage.
| Option after retirement | Former partner receives | Ends | Clean break? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pension sharing order | Their own police pension from the credit age (or straight away if older), for life | On the former partner's death | Yes |
| Offsetting | More of the home or savings now | Not applicable: it is capital | Yes, if the rest of the order is |
| Spousal maintenance | Regular payments from the officer, out of pension or other income | On the death of either of you, the former partner's remarriage or civil partnership, or the end of any fixed term | No |
| Attachment of the pension in payment | A percentage of each pension payment, paid by the scheme | As maintenance: on either death or the former partner's remarriage | No |
| A mix | For example a smaller share plus maintenance until the credit starts | Each part on its own terms | Partly |
Sources: MCA 1973 ss.24B, 25A, 25B and 28(1)(a); the scheme regulations for credit ages. Which mix is fair is for you to agree or the court to decide; this table only shows how each option behaves.
The spousal maintenance guide covers how courts look at police pay, pensions and allowances.
A new partner, survivor pensions and death benefits
Divorce after retirement often comes with a new relationship, and the pension rules for a later partner are easy to miss.
- Survivor debit. Where the pension has been shared, the survivor's pension for a later spouse or partner is reduced by a separate survivor debit, increased in line with pension increases (1987 reg C10; 2015 reg 138; GAD 1987 note para 3.62).
- The former spouse. After a sharing order, no spouse's or civil partner's benefits are payable to the person who was party to that divorce, unless they remarry the officer (GAD 1987 note para 3.94).
- Before the final order. Until the divorce is final, your spouse is still your spouse for scheme purposes. PAG2 warns about applying for the final order before the financial order is sorted, because survivor rights are lost when the marriage ends.
- The credit on the former partner's death. A credit pays no survivor's pension. If a credit member dies before it is paid, the schemes pay a lump sum (1987: 2.25 times the pension; 2006: 3 times; 2015: 3 times).
If you live with a new partner without marrying. In the 2015 scheme an unmarried partner can qualify for a survivor's pension without the joint declaration that was once required: that requirement was removed by the Police and Firefighters' Pensions (Amendment) Regulations 2018. Cohabitation and financial dependence or interdependence still have to be shown, normally for at least two years (2015 reg 135). The 1987 scheme rules for partners are different; see cohabitation and police pensions.
For what a partner gets if a retired officer dies, see survivor and death benefits for retired officers, and for nominations and forms after separation, death in service and divorce. The survivor pension calculator estimates the amounts.
McCloud: retired officers with 2015 to 2022 service
Officers who had retired (or died) before 1 October 2023 and have remediable service are "immediate choice" members. If the officer has not made a final remedy choice by the time of the divorce valuation, GAD's guidance compares the value of the pension being paid now with the value of the alternative scheme's pension (allowing for past underpayments or overpayments and contribution differences) and uses the greater. The debit is applied to the pension in payment and recalculated if the officer later chooses the alternative scheme.
For the alternative scheme, GAD's guidance tells the administrator to assume the officer retired at their actual retirement age, to apply that scheme's early or late payment rules, and to assume the minimum lump sum that scheme would allow. Where the officer retired on ill-health grounds, the administrator first checks whether they would have qualified for ill-health benefits under the alternative scheme. If the officer later chooses the alternative scheme, the administrator also applies a debit, at the order's percentage, to the arrears adjustment and the contribution adjustment that the choice produces.
If the officer has already made the choice, the valuation and debit simply follow it. For orders made before 1 October 2023 that covered remedy service, the scheme revisits the share under the 2023 regulations. The details, including what to ask and the delays in 2024 and 2025, are in McCloud remedy and divorce.
Step by step, and where retired officers can get help
| Step | Who | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ask for a pensioner cash equivalent for divorce, and the charge for it | Officer, via the administrator | Needed for Form E and any sharing order; the charge must be notified in advance |
| Get the pension payslip, P60 and the retirement award letter (pension and lump sum taken) | Officer | Shows the gross pension, any commutation and the date of retirement |
| If retired under 55 from the 1987 scheme, ask whether the CE includes the adjustment for deferred increases | Either | The pension will jump at 55; the payslip understates it |
| If retired on ill-health, ask which tables were used and whether there is an injury award | Either | Ill-health CEs are lower; injury awards are treated separately |
| If there is 2015 to 2022 service, ask about the McCloud immediate choice and how it was valued | Either | The CE may use the greater of two values |
| Ask when a credit would be paid to the former partner, and confirm there is no lump sum | Former partner | Shows the length of any income gap |
| Work out income for both of you before and after the order, year by year to the credit age | Both, with a solicitor or PODE | The gap often decides between sharing, offsetting and maintenance |
| Ask for the implementation charge and how the backdated reduction will be recovered | Officer | Pensioner implementation fees are in the thousands |
Before you agree: a check for each of you
| You are | Check before you agree |
|---|---|
| The retired officer | Your income after the debit for the rest of your life, including after 55 if you retired early from the 1987 scheme; the overpayment you may have to repay; the implementation fee; the effect of the survivor debit on any new partner |
| The retired officer | Whether your McCloud choice is made, and how it affects the valuation and the debit |
| The former partner | When your credit will start and roughly what it will pay; that there will be no lump sum; how you will manage until it starts |
| The former partner | Whether you would rather have capital now (offsetting) or income for life (sharing), and the risks of each |
| Both of you | Whether the figures you are using predate 19 May 2026; whether an expert should calculate income for each of you year by year |
The pension pages of Form E ask for the valuation and details of each pension. The Form E guide explains what to put for a police pension, including one in payment, and Form P, the pension inquiry form.
NARPO. The National Association of Retired Police Officers is the association for retired officers. Its website hosts older pension sharing material, including a copy of Home Office Circular 45/2001 on police pensions and divorce and a copy of the Pension Advisory Group's first report. Both predate later changes (the 2015 scheme, McCloud, the 2026 factors and tax changes), so use them for background, not current figures. See NARPO explained.
Federation. Police Federation membership is for serving officers, so before relying on a branch's family law arrangement after retirement, check with the branch whether it still covers you. The Federation family law offers page lists what branches publish.
Professional help. A family solicitor for the settlement, and for most police pensions in payment a pension on divorce expert to work out income for both of you over time. Choosing a police divorce solicitor covers what to ask. The divorce checklist sets out the court steps in order.
How English and Welsh administrators recover a backdated overpayment on a pension in payment; current (2026) pensioner charges outside Scotland; how a 2015 credit taken early from 55 is priced; and a primary source stating in terms that a police injury award cannot be shared. Where these matter, ask the administrator in writing.
Myths and facts about divorce after police retirement
| Myth | Fact |
|---|---|
| Once the pension is being paid, it cannot be shared. | Pensions in payment can be shared. PAG2 says almost all types of pension can be subject to a sharing order, "including pensions in payment" (para 3.5). |
| My ex will get their share when the order is made. | Only if they have already reached the credit age (60, 65 or State Pension age, by scheme). Otherwise they wait, while the officer's pension is cut straight away. |
| My ex can take a tax-free lump sum from their share. | Not from a credit created from a pension already in payment: it is a disqualifying pension credit (FA 2004 Sch 29 para 2(3)), and the scheme rules remove the lump sum too. |
| The scheme will claw back part of the lump sum I took. | The scheme shares the pension in payment. A lump sum already paid is not reclaimed by the scheme; whether what is left of it counts in the settlement is for negotiation or the court. |
| A pension in payment under 55 shows its real value. | For the 1987 scheme, increases are deferred until 55 and then added. PAG2 warns that a pension in payment to someone in their early 50s can look misleadingly low. |
| An ill-health pension is worth the same as any other pension of that size. | Its pensioner CE is lower because GAD's ill-health tables assume a shorter life. That changes the numbers on both sides. |
| If I remarry, my new spouse's survivor pension is unaffected. | A separate survivor debit reduces the pension a later spouse or partner would get (1987 reg C10; 2015 reg 138). |
| The pensioner valuation is free, like a CETV. | The one-free-in-12-months rule covers members entitled to a cash equivalent. A pensioner is not, so the scheme may charge (Charging Regulations reg 3(2)(b)). |
| My ex keeps a widow's or widower's pension because we were married when I retired. | After the divorce, a former spouse who was party to a sharing order gets no spouse's pension from the scheme unless you remarry each other (GAD 1987 note para 3.94). |
| My injury award will make up for the pension cut. | For the 1987 scheme, the injury pension is worked out as if the pension had not been reduced by a debit (PIBR 2006 Sch 3 para 6(2)(c)), so a debit is not topped up. |
If one of these applies to you and the answer surprises you, it is worth an early conversation with a solicitor before figures are exchanged. The checklist and enquiry form below are there if you want them.
Free: the police divorce checklist (PDF)
The documents to gather, the pension steps from CETV to pension sharing order, and the questions to ask a solicitor, written for police officers and their partners. Enter your email to download it. We will also send occasional police divorce and pension updates; unsubscribe any time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can a police pension be shared after retirement?
Yes. A pension already in payment can be the subject of a pension sharing order. The scheme values it with a pensioner cash equivalent, for divorce only, and once the order is implemented the officer's pension is reduced straight away. The former partner gets their own pension credit, paid from 60, 65 or State Pension age depending on the scheme.
What happens to my police pension in payment if I divorce?
If a sharing order is made, your pension is reduced by the order's percentage once the scheme implements it. In Scotland, SPPA says the pension continues at the full rate until then, and the reduction is backdated with the overpayment recovered. If there is no sharing order, the pension may be offset against other assets or attached, or taken into account for maintenance.
Will my ex-wife or ex-husband get a lump sum from my police pension?
Not from a share of a pension already in payment. It is a disqualifying pension credit, so no tax-free lump sum can be paid from it, and the scheme rules remove the 2006 automatic lump sum and the 1987 and 2015 commutation option where the officer has already taken a lump sum. They receive a pension for life instead.
When will my former partner be paid their share of my police pension?
From 60 for a 1987 scheme credit, 65 for a 2006 credit and State Pension age for a 2015 credit, or from when the order takes effect if they are already older. The 2015 regulations also allow a reduced pension from 55. Until then nothing is paid to them, even though your pension has been reduced.
Is the lump sum I took at retirement part of the divorce?
The scheme does not share or reclaim it: the pensioner cash equivalent values the pension still being paid. Whatever is left of the lump sum, as savings or a paid-off mortgage, is part of your finances. Whether it is treated as matrimonial, and how much weight it gets, is a legal question for your solicitor or the court.
How is a retired police officer's pension valued for divorce?
The scheme gives a pensioner cash equivalent, using GAD's pensioner divorce tables re-issued after the May 2026 SCAPE change. It is for divorce only and can be charged for. Ill-health pensioners get a lower figure because the tables assume a shorter life, and 1987 pensioners under 55 have an adjustment for increases not yet paid.
Can spousal maintenance be paid from a police pension?
Pension income is income like any other when the court looks at maintenance. There is no formula: the court weighs the factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act and must consider a clean break. Maintenance orders end on the death of either of you and on the recipient's remarriage. Our spousal maintenance guide covers police pay and pensions.
Does an ill-health police pension get shared on divorce?
Yes, the pension debit applies to ill-health pensions in all three schemes. The pensioner cash equivalent is lower than for a normal-health pension of the same size. An injury award is treated differently and is generally understood not to be shareable, though we found no primary source that says so in terms.
What if I retired before 55 from the 1987 scheme?
Pension increases on your own pension are not paid until 55 unless you retired on ill-health grounds, and then the built-up increases are added. GAD's method leaves those increases out of the main figure and adds a separate adjustment for them. Check the valuation includes it, because your payslip will understate the pension you will receive from 55.
If I remarry after the divorce, does my new spouse get a full widow's pension?
Not if your pension was shared. A survivor debit reduces the survivor's pension payable to a later spouse or partner (1987 reg C10; 2015 reg 138). Your former spouse gets no survivor's pension from your scheme after the final order, unless you remarry each other.
Does the McCloud remedy matter if I have already retired?
If you have 2015 to 2022 service and had retired before 1 October 2023, you are an immediate choice member. If you have not made your choice by the time of the divorce valuation, the scheme compares the pension you receive now with the alternative scheme's pension and uses the greater, and the debit follows your eventual choice.
Can a retired police officer's pension be offset instead of shared?
Yes. The officer can keep the pension and the former partner take more of the home or savings instead. PAG2 warns that after retirement the usual valuation basis can be unfair or misleading, that the tax adjustment can be higher because the lump sum has already been taken, and that the case for a cash-now adjustment is weaker near retirement.
Do I have to repay pension if the reduction is backdated?
Possibly. SPPA says the pension is paid at the full rate until the share is implemented, then the reduction is backdated and the overpayment recovered. In England and Wales the reduction legally runs from the day the order takes effect. Ask your administrator how and when it will recover any overpayment, and keep the difference aside meanwhile.
Where can retired officers get help with divorce and their pension?
The pension administrator for valuations and charges; a family solicitor for the settlement; a pension on divorce expert where the pension is a large part of the money; and NARPO, the association for retired officers, whose website hosts older Home Office pension sharing material. Federation membership is for serving officers.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 19 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- GAD: Police 1987 scheme transfer values and pension sharing guidance (10 December 2020) : pensioner CE (3.27, 3.42), ill-health tables (3.28 to 3.29), under 55 adjustment (3.33, 3.40 to 3.41), debit applied immediately (3.58), debit amount (3.61), survivor benefits (3.94); summarised, not reproduced (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Pensions Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/3415), regulation 61 (as made) : credit at 65 or later; automatic lump sum; no lump sum on a disqualifying pension credit (61(4)) (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Pensions (Pension Sharing) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/3202) : 1987 regs M1 (credit at 60 or later) and M2 (no commutation where the officer already had a lump sum); C10 survivor debit; B12 (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Pensions Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/445), regulation 131 (as made) : credit member commutation; not available where the officer received a lump sum before the order (131(5)) (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Pensions Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/445), Part 8 : credit member entitlement (reg 126), survivor debit (reg 138) (accessed 19 October 2026)
- HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM063230: disqualifying pension credits : a credit created from a pension already in payment cannot support a tax-free lump sum (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Finance Act 2004, Schedule 29 : para 2(3): disqualifying pension credit (accessed 19 October 2026)
- SPPA: Pensions on Divorce, Police and Fire (1 April 2026) : PETV; full rate until implementation, reduction backdated and overpayment recovered (s.3.3); PETV charges; no dependants' benefits on a credit (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Pension Advisory Group: A Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce, second edition (Nuffield Foundation, 2024), CC BY 4.0 : para 3.5 (pensions in payment), Appendix I paras I.23 to I.24 (income gap), I.28 (under 55), I.34 to I.36 (ill-health), I.39 to I.40 (re-employment) (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Pensions on Divorce etc. (Charging) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1049), regulation 3 : a valuation can be charged where the member is not entitled to a cash equivalent (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Pensions on Divorce etc. (Provision of Information) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1048), regulation 2 : 3 months, or 6 weeks for divorce proceedings (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, sections 29 and 31 : debit and credit on the transfer day; reduction of the member's benefits (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Divorce etc. (Pensions) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1123), regulation 9 : a sharing order cannot take effect earlier than 7 days after the appeal period ends (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, section 34 : 4-month implementation period (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Pensions (Increase) Act 1971, section 3 : increases not paid on your own pension before 55 unless retired on ill-health grounds or disabled (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police (Injury Benefit) Regulations 2006, Schedule 3 : para 6(2)(c): a 1987 pension reduced by a debit is treated as not reduced when working out the injury pension (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Pensions Regulations 2015, regulation 135 (latest version) : surviving partner: joint declaration removed by SI 2018/997; cohabitation and dependence still required (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 28 : periodical payments end on the death of either party and on the payee's remarriage (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Metropolitan Police pensions on divorce or dissolution: schedule of charges v30 (2023) : pensioner CETV £1,360; PSO implementation £3,600 for pensioners; uprated each April (accessed 19 October 2026)
- SI 2023/831 (McCloud) Part 4 and GAD prospective McCloud divorce guidance (21 March 2025) : immediate choice pensioners: greater-of value; debit on the pension in payment, recalculated after the choice (accessed 19 October 2026)
- NARPO: Police pensions and divorce, Home Office Circular 45/2001 (copy hosted by NARPO) : older Home Office material; predates later scheme and tax changes (accessed 19 October 2026)
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Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent reference site. It is not a law firm or a financial adviser, is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, and this page is general information, not legal, financial or pension advice. Every divorce settlement depends on the facts, and pension sharing is decided by agreement or by a court. Figures from our calculators are estimates on stated assumptions: the scheme administrator's cash equivalent and the court order are what count. For decisions about your settlement, speak to a family solicitor and, where the pension is a large part of the money, a pension on divorce expert. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 19 October 2026.