Married couples warned they can't get a divorce because of their pension provider

A teacher has warned that she cannot get divorced - because of their PENSION provider. The writer has written into a national newspaper, in their consumer advice and personal finance section, as they seek desperate advice.

"I am a teacher and I requested a cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) from Teachers’ Pensions in June. I needed to submit the value of my pot to the court as part of the divorce proceedings," they wrote into the Guardian.

"I received a wordy letter from Teachers’ Pensions saying that there may be a delay due to changes to the ways pension valuations are calculated. I rang for clarification and, after an hour on hold, was told that there was no timeframe for my valuation to be completed, and that I could not finalise my divorce without it, unless my husband waived his right to half my pension.

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"With current high divorce rates, and the fact that there are more women in the teaching profession than men, there must be a lot of women who are trying to get out of marriages but who are having to carry on living with the person they want to leave while they deal with bureaucratic bulls***."

The Guardian reports the writer is suffering from Transitional Protection, which is a 2015 policy which allowed public sector employees who were near retirement to remain in a final salary pension scheme while younger colleagues were transferred to less lucrative career average schemes.

Kristie Silsby of the law firm Willans said: "This causes an additional layer of stress for our divorcing clients as they find themselves completely stuck, often for months, and unable to negotiate financial settlements." She went on to say: "For those with long service, the teachers’ pension is often a key resource which simply cannot be negotiated around.”