Section 20: Pension sharing orders in Scotland
This section amends the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 to enable the court in Scotland to make pension sharing orders in relation to divorce and nullity of marriage in Scotland.
Subsection (2) inserts into section 8(1) (which sets out the types of order for financial provision a court may make in an action for divorce) a new type of order named “a pension sharing order”.
Subsections (3) and (4) insert various definitions into section 27 (interpretation). These definitions largely correspond to the equivalent definitions for England and Wales at Schedule 3, paragraph 2.
The sole point of difference occurs at subsection (3)(b) in the definition of “pension sharing order”. This provides for the percentage value or the amount of the shareable rights to be transferred. Allowing the transfer of an amount reflects substantive law and current practice in Scotland in relation to orders for financial provision on divorce.
