wifes rights

[upsetspouse]

It looks like my husband will be going to jail for bigamy as his legal wife do i have the right to a pension he receives every month at the moment it is going into his illegal wifes bank account and i receive no money from him. I am going to divorce him without his consent as he wont give consent and we have been separated for over 5 years but i have no idea of what i will be entitled to.

[woofgang]

Go and get advice, start with the citizens advice bureau

[factor-fiction]

Do you have a solicitor advising you on this matter?

[tonyav]

I believe that once you are divorced that you will be entitled to a portion of that pension.

[VHG]

Surely the pension is his not yours, so you cant just ask for it to be transferred into your bank account.

And as it is his pension I guess it is up to him what account he pays it in to.

However when and if you get divorced you may be entitled to some money out of the joint finances if, for example, you owned a house together.

And you MAY be entitled to part of his pension if he built up the pension during the time you were together.

So you need to see a soliciutor to see what, if any, money you may be entitled to.

[boxtops]

I agree - get legal advice straight away.

[EDDIE51]

There is a lot to sort out here you need a good solicitor urgently. Too complicated for us.

[tonywiltshire]

I think in an earlier post you were asking if it were possible to be divorced without being aware of it and it was decided that if your spouse had details of your current address you should have served a copy of the petition and notice of proceedings.
As you know you can get divorced after 5 years of being apart even if one party does not agree on the basis of your marriage being irretrievably broken down, if there are no children or property and your affairs are not complicated you can probably do this as a DIY divorce.
You mention the illegal wife, this marriage was void, it is quite possible that the woman with whom he now lives is unaware that she is not married, you are the legal wife, I doubt the pension paid to your husband’s current partner was paid as a result of a court order it is more likely to be your husbands choice, the court has very wide power and you should make sure of your financial position at court where you as the petitioner can obtain a decree Nici (meaning unless) and some 6 weeks later you can apply for a decree absolute then you are no longer married.

[grffindoor2011]

I used to deal with pensions. There was a case (the only one I have ever seen) where a bigamist had died and we had to pay 50% pension to each wife. That was a public service pension. I remember the first wife being very unhappy about it.

In your case, divorced or not, why would you receive anything? You are no more entitled than I am. Although if you divorce I would say you could get an AOE order out. You won't have any hope of a widows pension having divorced though.

I hope he rots in prison.