What happens if I get divorced?
If you get divorced or end a civil partnership, your former partner will lose any automatic right to a pension if you die. However, the courts may allocate some of your pension benefits to them as part of the settlement.
Some of your benefits may be transferred to a policy for your former partner at the time the relationship ends ("pension sharing"). Or, they may receive a pre-arranged proportion of your pension when it comes into payment ("pension earmarking"). A third option is to "offset" their rights to your pension by reflecting it in some other part of the settlement – such as their share in the value of the house.
If you are going through a divorce or ending a civil partnership, please contact Unilever Pensions Team for more information about the possible effects on your benefits.
If you have been separated from your husband or wife for more than two years, you can be treated as unmarried, as long as the Trustees agree. You can then apply for a dependant's pension for your new partner. If you were to die in this situation, your husband or wife may still receive a reduced pension.