A PODE (Pensions on Divorce Expert) is an impartial professional recognised by the courts, who helps you understand and fairly divide pensions during a divorce.

They are necessary because pensions are easy to overlook, misunderstand or value incorrectly.

A PODE will:

• Fully assess the value of your pensions and look at relevant personal circumstances which might impact the pension share

• Show what each person might get from different options (like splitting the pension or trading it for something else, like more of the house)

• Write a clear report that can be used with mediators, solicitors, financial advisers or between yourselves

PODE’s are known as ‘single joint experts’ which means they work for both parties.

They don’t take sides and act impartially. Nor do they give financial advice. They just give you (and the court if necessary) the facts about your pensions and recommend how to split them fairly.

For more detail see our professional insight on this topic here

Maybe. Not everyone does, but if pensions are involved in your divorce, it’s really important to check.

You probably do need a full pension sharing report if one or more of these applies:

• Either of you has a public sector or defined benefit pension

• The total value of your pensions is over £100,000

• One of you is much older, or has health issues that might affect life expectancy

• You’re thinking of “offsetting” (where one of you has another asset instead of a share of the pensions)

• Your State Pension forecasts are very different

You might not need a full pension sharing report if:

• Both of you have simple pensions of similar value (especially if you're under 40)

• All pensions are defined contribution types (like private or workplace savings pots)

• There are no big differences in age, health, or financial need

Even if you don’t need a full PODE report, you might benefit a ‘lite’ version, giving just enough help to understand your options clearly and avoid costly mistakes.

There is really no way of knowing without further assessment.

Take our free 2-minute assessment to find out.

Our pension sharing assessment is FREE and will allow you to establish exactly what action you should take (if any).

1. A PODE Lite report is £475+VAT per person (£950+VAT total, as of July 2025)

2. A Full PODE report is £1,225 + VAT per person (£2,450+VAT in total, as of July 2025)

To find out which report you need, start by taking our free assessment.

Once we have all of the information we require from providers we will issue your report within 10 working days.

Before we can issue your report we need the requisite technical information from your pension providers.

Some are much quicker than others. Some exceed any time frames they’ve quoted.

This ‘data gathering’ stage can therefore range from 4 weeks to 6 months. We have a robust process for chasing pension providers and aim to get you through this whole process as quickly as possible.

For a more detailed breakdown of our process see our professional insight on this topic here.