Family Solicitors Suffolk – Government plans to create a flat-rate state pension
“It’s really interesting to note that the government has announced plans today to merge the basic and additional state pensions to create one flat-rate state pension, the current figure for which is £144, although this will attract inflationary rises between now and 2017, which is when it is expected to be implemented. Currently, a divorced person can adopt his or her spouses National Insurance (NI) record in order to obtain a higher basic state pension than his or her own NI record allows, however, in practice, this is often missed. The additional state pension (ASP) can be shared between parties on divorce, but again, ASP is often disregarded. Therefore, on the face of it the governments changes appear to benefit some divorced pensioners, but only time will tell.”
Nicola Furmston is a family law solicitor at Barker Gotelee, solicitors in Suffolk.
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