HM Revenue & Customs

Date of first pension sharing order

The most common pension debit is a pension sharing order on divorce.

An individual’s pension rights may be reduced as a result of the rights becoming subject to a pension debit. This happens when an individual gets divorced and their pension rights become the subject of a pension sharing order. A pension debit is the amount by which the value of the individual’s pension rights are reduced, with a corresponding pension credit of the same amount being given to their ex-spouse or former civil partner. The reduction due to the pension debit applies from the effective date of the pension sharing order and not, where this is later, the date on which your pension rights are actually split by your pension scheme(s).

For further information and examples of the impact of pension debits see Chapter 3.3 of the following link.

Pensions: Individual Protection 2014