A pension sharing order cannot be made against the State Pension. So does the State Pension matter? It does, and sometimes it decides the answer. In one of our cases a single missing statement moved the order by about 17 percentage points.
The short answer
The State Pension is valued, never shared. Every pension of either person goes into the balance, the State Pension included. The law does not allow it to be shared, so it is "not shareable". That only means the order cannot be made against it. Its value still counts.
Where the two people's State Pension forecasts are equal, they cancel out exactly. Where they differ, the difference changes the answer. That is why we need both forecasts before the report.
Why a difference changes the answer
The calculation adds up everything. It finds the income each person would have if the total were shared equally, and compares that with what each person has now. The State Pension is part of what each person has now.
So if one person will receive more State Pension than the other, that is already part of their income. Less needs to pass from the other pensions to bring the two people level. If the difference runs the other way, more needs to pass. Either way, the order made against the shareable pensions moves.
Overseas and early-starting state pensions
Overseas pensions go into the balance too, overseas state pensions included. Some start at a different age from the UK State Pension. A pension that starts years before the age the instruction targets cannot be compared on its annual amount. We value it as capital instead, so it can be added to everything else on the same footing.
A worked example
This case is anonymised and its figures are rounded.
It was a long marriage. One person had a large final-salary pension from a multi-employer scheme, two small money-purchase pots and some small overseas pensions. The other person's only pension declared at first was an overseas state pension, payable seven years before their UK State Pension age. The instruction was equal income at each person's own State Pension age.
Every pension went into the balance, the overseas ones included. The overseas state pension was valued as capital, because it starts years before the target age. The order was about 74% of the final-salary pension.
After the report was served, the second person's UK State Pension statement arrived. It showed a UK State Pension they had not mentioned. That is income they will have, so less of the first person's pension needed to pass. Adding it moved the order to about 57%.
| Stage | Order on the final-salary pension |
|---|---|
| The report as served | about 74% |
| With the second person's UK State Pension added | about 57% |
| The change | about 17 percentage points |
How a late change is delivered
If something changes after the report is served, we issue a new certificate and an addendum that says what it replaces. The original report stays as it was.
That is what happened here. The new certificate carried the figures with the UK State Pension included. The addendum named the report it supplements. Anyone reading the file can see what was served, what changed and why.
The route works. But it comes after the report has been served, and the first figure has already been read by both sides. The better course is to have both statements before the report is written.
Who obtains the forecasts
The client requests the scheme data, and that includes both people's State Pension forecasts. Our standard timetable runs from receipt of the joint instruction and the complete information pack. A pack without both forecasts is not complete.
Ask for both statements even where one person says they have little or no State Pension. In the case above, the person concerned had not mentioned theirs, and it was that statement that changed the order.
What to do
- Request both people's UK State Pension statements before the report, even where one person expects little or none.
- List every overseas pension, overseas state pensions included, and say when each one starts.
- When the report arrives, check it values a State Pension for both people.
- Remember that the State Pension cannot be shared. A difference in it moves the order made against the other pensions.
- If a statement arrives after the report has been served, send it to us. We issue a new certificate and an addendum, and the original report stays as it was.
More on how we work is on our Pension Sharing Order page.
Last updated October 2026.