When during divorce procedures would a pension audit start?
Assuming there are complex and significant pension arrangements in a defined benefit scheme that justify the use of a pensions expert, a pension audit should start as early as possible when the parties are involved in ancillary relief proceedings. As the step-by-step guide shows, this starts will an application being made to the court. This could be after the divorce procedure is final but certainly sometime after the court has granted the decree nisi. The parties should come to an agreement through their solicitors to appoint a single pensions expert after the petitioner has applied for a financial order to divide the matrimonial assets but before the first appointment. This should be done before agreement is reached about the other matrimonial assets as the fair value of the members retirement benefits as a fully valued CETV may be much higher than the CETV Method used by the scheme administrator and therefore have an important impact on the division of all assets. At the first appoi
