Early November saw top family Judge Mr Justice Mostyn order that a pension share is not available in relation to a foreign pension.
Pension shares are arrangements made for one party’s pension value to be divided and a percentage of it transferred to the other party to equalise either pension values, incomes or both.
In this particular case the wife, Mrs Goyal, made a claim for a pension sharing order against her husband’s Indian pension. In his judgment, Mr Justice Mostyn indicated that whilst the UK Court is unable to make a pension sharing order in relation to an overseas pension, there are other alternatives available. This could include applying for an order in a foreign jurisdiction for a pension share in that country. However, for this to work, the court must be satisfied that the foreign pension provider will implement the agreement.
Unfortunately, Mrs Goyal was unable to provide evidence that such an order, were it to be made, would be enforced by the courts in India.
This situation is on the increase as more people travel out of UK jurisdiction for jobs that provide pension schemes in foreign jurisdictions.
Pensions and foreign property are a complex areas of law, please contact a member of our family team for more information or email info@newtons.co.uk