"The best performing pension could produce more than three times more pension income than the worst performing one. The really bad news is that your pension fund is more likely to be amongst the bad than the good" The Observer
This is the traditional method of taking the value of pension rights into account in a divorce settlement. In theory this is simple: a lump sum value of a spouse’s pension rights is agreed (well, hopefully!) and this value is then treated in much the same way as the value of the spouses’ equity in the matrimonial home, or the value of investments or any other asset.
By way of quick example one spouse might want to retrain all of his or her pension rights and, in return, agree to allow the other spouse a greater share of the matrimonial home. In other words, it’s ‘dealing’ (or ‘setting off’) the pension asset against the value of other assets. It’s almost never as simple as this, however, so... after instructing a solicitor...