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N2
This represents the date when the Financial Services and Markets
Act 2000 (FSMA) regulatory
regime was brought into force, at midnight on the 30 November
2001. Although the FSMA received Royal Assent on the 14 June
2000, delays had occurred at least in part to allow regulated
firms time to ensure their procedures and systems are compliant
with the new law.
National
Insurance
Contributions of National Insurance (NI) are compulsory being
charged on earnings from employment or profits from self-employment
above certain minimum amounts. NI contributions will fund in
part the National Health Service and provides protection against
sickness and unemployment. Payment of enough contributions towards
NI will entitle the member to receive a basic
state pension at retirement.
Negative
deferred pension
In an occupational pension scheme such as final salary pension,
it will be necessary for the scheme trustees to record a pension
debit created by the pension
sharing order as a result of the divorce of the member.
Under Section 31 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999
(WRPA)
this record is revalued as a negative deferred pension and represents
the current value at retirement of the original pension debit.
For both a final
salary pension and money
purchase scheme it will be necessary for the scheme trustees
to identify and keep a track of the negative deferred pension
to ensure Inland Revenue limits are not exceeded.
Net relevant earnings
The maximum personal pension or retirement annuity policies
(RAPs)
contributions are based on the individuals net relevant earnings
(NRE). For a self employed individual, NRE represents the relevant
earnings less business expenses as well as any losses or capital
allowances. For personal pensions the earnings
cap restricts NRE but there is no restriction to net relevant
earnings for RAPs. In general for an employee the relevant earnings
is equal to the NRE.
NHS
funding
The NHS is legally obligated to provide long
term care funding where an individual requires specialist
supervision or equipment. If an individual does not meet the
NHS funding criteria funding will not be provided on a health
care basis and is deemed social care which would be provided
by the Local Authority subject to means
testing. It is possible for the individual to qualify for
partial NHS funding where their assets are greater than that
permitted under means testing.
Where an individual does not qualify for Local Authority or
NHS funding for long term care, it is possible to purchase an
immediate
needs annuity to cap the total cost of either residential
care or nursing care home.
Non
contributory scheme
Any pension scheme where the members are not required to make
contributions and where the employer is responsible for funding
the members
pension rights is known as a non contributory scheme.
The majority of employers operate contributory
schemes as non contributory schemes have high operating
costs. If an employer pension scheme is non contributory, they
will typically be associated with a defined benefit final salary
pension. A public
service scheme may also be non contributory, such as the
civil service, and although this scheme will also be unfunded,
the members pension rights at retirement age are guaranteed
by statute.
For an early leaver, there is a risk to the scheme member leaving
within two years, as the employer can apply a refund of contributions
made by the member. This means that in a non contributory scheme
no contributions are made so the member will have no accrued
pension benefits on leaving.
Non
exempt activities order
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) section 327(6)
states that the activities must not be of a description, or
relate to an investment of a description, specified in an Order
made by HM Treasury for the purposes of this sub-section. This
together with the restricted activities rules of designated
professional bodies (DPB)
will prohibit exempt
professional firms from carrying on specific types of regulated
activity.
Normal pension age
The statutory definition of the normal pension age (NPA) is
specified in section 180 of the Pensions
Schemes Act 1993 (PSA 93) that applies for preservation
and contracting out purposes. The normal pension age is the
earliest age at which a scheme member is entitled to receive
retirement benefits, other than the guaranteed minimum pension
(GMP),
on retirement from the employment to which the employers pension
scheme relates.
This will exclude provisions of the scheme allowing the member
early retirement
as a result of ill health and is the earliest age at which a
scheme member can take retirement benefits without these benefits
being reduced. The normal pension age for an occupational
pension scheme will usually determine the normal pension
date for a particular member.
Nullity
A marriage can be annulled if for any reason it is not valid
and this can be done by the presentation of a nullity petition.
Once the court has issued the partner a decree of nullity, there
are no further requirements to end the marriage. This contrasts
with divorce
which requires the decree
nisi followed by the decree absolute.
It would then be possible to apply for a court order to settle
disputes over children, matrimonial assets or financial matters
during ancillary
relief proceedings including the granting of an earmarking
order or pension sharing order against the members pension rights
from a pension arrangement of a partner.
A marriage
can be annulled where; it has not been consummated, that is
where partners have not had sex while being married; the partners
are inter-married, meaning a marriage of close relatives; at
the time of the marriage one of the partners was already married
to someone else; one of the partners was under the age of 16
at the time of the marriage; a partner at the time of the marriage
had a venereal disease and the other partner was not aware of
this at the time; and the partner at the time of marriage was
pregnant with another persons child which the other partner
was not aware of at that time.
As with judicial
separation a presentation for nullity can be granted within
12 months of the marriage but must be presented within a reasonable
time.
Nursing
care bands Nursing care bands were introduced from 1 October 2001 and
means that anyone paying their own long
term care costs in can have a fixed weekly contribution
paid by the Department of Health directly to the nursing home
care provider. In England the primary care trust (PCT) determines
if an individual is entitled to a registered nursing care contribution.
This procedure is different from means testing.
This partial NHS
funding is possible for those individuals that do not qualify
for full long term care from the NHS. Subsequent to a Royal
Commission in 1999 that recommended all health care and personal
care to be provided free, changes were introduced in England
to provide extra funding but only for health care and not personal
care where the care is provided by a registered nurse and only
up to certain limits.
Under the Social Care Act 2001 this defines nursing care as
the registered nurses contribution to providing, planning and
supervising care in a nursing home setting. This does not include
time spent by any other personnel such as care assistants however
would include the time spent by a registered nurse in the monitoring
and supervision of others delegated work relating to long
term care.
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Information found on this site does not amount to financial advice or
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If you do not agree to be bound by them, you should not use the sharingpensions.co.uk
website. Before taking any action regarding pensions, pension on divorce
or any other financial or legal matter you should seek professional
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