Can my ex-husband’s NI record increase my state pension?

I am a woman born before April 6, 1953 and my ex-husband was born before April 6, 1951.

Can I claim my basic AOW pension on the total of my ex-husband’s national insurance data/number of qualifying years that he received up to the divorce date, plus my own NI data/number of qualifying years that I received after the divorce?

Until the divorce date, my ex-husband’s NI data shows seven qualifying years and after divorce I have eight qualifying years.

It seems logical to use his NI records up to the divorce date (I took care of the family) and add my NI contributions after the divorce.

SCROLL DOWN TO DISCOVER HOW TO ASK STEVE YOUR PENSION QUESTION

Steve Webb replies: Since divorced women are a group at particularly high risk of poverty in old age, I am grateful for the opportunity to clarify how divorce is treated in the state pension system, and to highlight the possibility for some women to receive a higher state pension. to get.

First of all, it should be clear that I am talking about people who fall under the old AOW system and who reach the retirement age before April 6, 2016.

In the new system, with very limited exceptions, you are only entitled to your own premium income.

Under the old system, a divorced woman can submit a request to have her ex-husband’s premiums taken into account when working out her state pension.

The same goes for divorced men, but in most cases men will have a full basic pension anyway, so for the rest of this article I’ll refer to the position of divorced women.

Steve Webb: In the box below, learn how to ask the former Secretary of Pensions a question about your retirement savings

There are two scenarios in which a divorcee can benefit from her ex-husband’s contributions under the pre-April 2016 system.

Nor does the ex-husband’s AOW pension lower or have any influence on it.

Divorce Before Retirement

The first is where the divorce takes place before the woman reaches state pension age, and where she does not remarry until she retires.

(Note that anyone who remarries before retirement age loses any claim to their previous spouse’s contributions.)

In this scenario, provided you tell DWP about your ex-husband when you apply for retirement, they should automatically look at replacing your ex-husband’s own premium statement up to the date of the divorce, at about the same time. way as you have done. described.

Should this lead to a higher pension, this ‘hybrid’ NI record will be used.

For a woman who is divorcing almost before retirement age and who can replace her ex-husband’s NI record with her own record for most of her working life, this can often push her into a full or nearly full basic pension.

The old state pension system also included something called “supplementary” pension (commonly known as SERPS). However, the process of replacing your ex-husband’s NI record *doesn’t* apply to your SERPS pension.

The only way you can get a share of your ex-husband’s SERPS pension is if it’s done as part of a divorce settlement, just as corporate and private pensions can be shared as part of this process.

Divorce after retirement

The second group of women who can benefit from the contributions of an ex-husband under the old AOW system are those who divorce after reaching retirement age.

The crucial point here is that you must notify DWP of the divorce – otherwise they won’t know anything about the divorce and they won’t retroactively push back a claim if you’re late telling them.

If you divorce after retirement, you can have your AOW basis recalculated on the basis of your ex-husband’s entire NI record until you reach state pension age. This often results in a full state pension.

I regularly hear from women who have retired and had no idea they could get an AOW raise.

Many have been living for ten years or more on a state pension that is below the level they could have had if they had only filed a claim.

I would therefore encourage any woman who has been divorced after retirement and has not yet informed DWP to get in touch the Pension Service as an urgent matter.