This Practice Note provides a high-level summary of pension sharing orders on divorce in Scotland as they relate to defined benefit pension schemes. It is not intended to cover every aspect of the pension sharing regime.

The key legislation and regulations applicable to pensions and divorce in Scotland are:

1. •

   the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 (FL(S)A 1985)

2. •

   Part IV of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (WRPA 1999), and

3. •

   the Pensions on Divorce etc (Pension Sharing) (Scotland) Regulations 2000, SI 2000/1051

However, there are also several other regulations which are relevant, some of which are referred to within this Practice Note.

On divorce of marriage or dissolution of civil partnership, a pension can represent part of the assets that make up the matrimonial property. The court can make an order to redistribute the pension between the parties to the marriage or civil partnership, or the parties can come to an agreement between them as to how the pension