INFORMATION
As pension schemes are generally set up in trust
the beneficiaries, including a spouse of a member have certain
rights to information and to call the trustees to account. These
rights are fortified and made more detailed by the Occupational
Pension Schemes (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 1996.
Under these the trustees of an occupational pension scheme are
required to produce an annual report including audited accounts,
an investment report and an actuarial statement. The spouse of
a member may request certain basic information (set out in Schedule
1 to the Regulations) about the Scheme and also information regarding
benefits and copies of the latest actuarial valuation and annual
report. Usually it is more convenient to get a mandate from the
member to provide further information.
Regulation 4 of the Divorce Regulations (as
amended) requires the trustees or managers of any pension scheme
to provide, for the purposes of the 1985 Act, information as to
the value of pension benefits within three months of request,
and for the recovery from the member of additional administrative
expenses incurred providing such information.
