Around 750,000 divorcees in the UK are set to claim for tens of thousands of pounds in lost financial entitlements as a result of changes to divorce pension rulings in 2000, a report by Divorce LifeLine has revealed.

Since a major change in the law in December 2000, pension sharing has become allowed, meaning a pension provider can be told that a percentage of the pension of their member can be allocated to the member's former spouse. The court has powers to order this on divorce.

Many divorcees have not received correct divorce valuations leading on from this law change and therefore are being urged by solicitors to check their divorce pension rights and make sure they have had proper legal and financial advice on their pension valuations.

JCP Solicitors partner and head of family law Sali Jackson-Thomas said: “Pension funds are often the main asset of a marriage and are frequently more valuable than the home. For this reason, people need to realise the important of looking beyond the valuation given by the pension provider, the cash equivalent transfer value, and to seek an accurate valuation of a pension from an actuary.”

Divorce LifeLine founding partner Jeremy Wolff said that one of the reasons why the valuation of a pension may be overlooked is offsetting, where the husband or wife without a pension receives a greater share of the house or endowment, and the other spouse keeps his or her pension.

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