What’s the Pensions Advisory Group (PAG) and why does it matter for my divorce?
Quick answer
The Pensions Advisory Group (PAG) produces best practice guidance on how pensions should be handled in divorce in England and Wales. Its guidance matters because courts, solicitors and PODEs use it as a benchmark for fair pension analysis.
Introduction
If you've started researching pension sharing in divorce, you may have come across references to "PAG guidance" cited by solicitors, PODEs, and the courts as the benchmark for getting pensions right. But what is the Pensions Advisory Group, and why does it matter for your divorce?
What is the pensions advisory group?
The Pensions Advisory Group (PAG) is an independent, multidisciplinary working group established in June 2017 to improve the way pensions are handled in divorce proceedings in England and Wales. It was formed under the joint chairmanship of Mr Justice Francis and His Honour Judge Edward Hess, and was funded and supported by the Nuffield Foundation, one of the UK's most respected independent research bodies.
PAG brought together an unusually wide range of specialists:
Family court judges and barristers
Specialist family law solicitors
Pension actuaries and financial advisers
Pensions on Divorce Experts (PODEs)
Academic researchers in family law and pensions
This breadth was deliberate. Pensions in divorce sit at the intersection of law, finance, and actuarial calculation and getting them right requires all three disciplines working together.
What has PAG produced?
PAG published its first major report in 2019: A Guide to the Treatment of Pensions on Divorce, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It set out clear best practice guidance for how pensions should be valued, shared, and offset in divorce settlements, and provided the courts with a consistent framework for the first time.
A second, updated edition was published in January 2024, incorporating developments in case law, new pension types, and evolved thinking across key topics including:
Valuing Defined Benefit pensions, and why Cash Equivalent Values (CEVs) are frequently unreliable as a basis for pension sharing
When and how to offset pension value against property or other assets, and the significant risks of getting those calculations wrong
State Pensions, frequently undervalued or ignored in settlements, particularly for women and lower earners
Complex cases, including the McCloud remedy, public sector pensions, death in-service benefits, and health related factors
What a good PODE report should include, the standard every expert report is measured against
The 2024 report is endorsed by the Family Justice Council and is now the go-to reference for courts and pension experts handling divorce cases in England and Wales.
Why does PAG matter for you?
When you instruct a PODE, their report will be used, directly or indirectly, to inform decisions worth potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds in retirement income. If your PODE doesn't follow PAG guidance, there's a real risk that:
Pensions are valued using methods the court may not accept
Offsetting calculations significantly overestimate or underestimate what a pension is actually worth
The report doesn't meet the standard required for use in financial remedy proceedings
PAG compliance isn't a tick-box exercise. It's the difference between a report that holds up in court and one that doesn't.
What should you ask?
When choosing a PODE, one of the most important questions to ask is: do you work to the latest PAG guidance? A PODE who is familiar with the 2024 second edition and applies it as standard practice is demonstrably operating at a higher level than one who isn't.
At The PODE, PAG guidance is at the core of how we work.
The bottom line
The Pensions Advisory Group sets the evidence based standard for pension treatment on divorce in England and Wales. Their guidance shapes what courts expect, what experts produce, and ultimately what you receive. It shouldn’t be seen as optional. It's the foundation of a fair settlement.
What to do next
When instructing a PODE, it's worth asking whether they work to the latest PAG guidance. Find out if you need a PODE report with our free assessment which takes just a few minutes.