The Scottish Courts now take pension rights into account when deciding financial settlements following a divorce. However the claimant spouse is not automatically granted a share of the accumulated pension rights of the other spouse on divorce. Instead, the claimant spouse often receives the proportion allocated to him or her if, and when, the other spouse begins to draw their pension.
In the current system, there are two options for adjusting pension rights on a divorce:
- The claimant spouse obtains a future attachment order or, in terms of the Pensions Act, a "deferred maintenance order" against the lump sum share of the ex-spouse's benefits, payable when he or she starts to draw benefits from his or her pension scheme. This system is more commonly known as "earmarking".
