Female divorced pensioners ‘to benefit’ from changes

In the same week that cahoot claimed more couples are staying together to prevent economic difficulties, Standard Life has said divorced women may take advantage of changes to pension rules.

Currently, pension members can take benefits from the age of 50 and withdraw 25 per cent as a lump sum, whereas the member’s partner, if a non-member, must wait until the age of 60 before benefits can be taken and is not entitled to a lump sum.

Since the member is normally the husband and the non-member is usually the wife in this situation, these regulations may have caused problems – even debt management issues – for women not yet at retirement age.

However, from next April these rules will be scrapped – action described as “long overdue” by Andrew Tully, senior pensions policy manager at Standard Life.

“Giving people more flexibility to take pension benefits when and how it suits them best is a welcome development,” he said.

The company stated that a third of marriages end in divorce in the UK.

By Morwenna Kearns