The Department for Work and Pensions has made the State Pension Debits and Credits (Revaluation) Order 2025, a technical update that keeps divorce-related state pension entitlements in line with prices. The instrument was made on 25 November 2025, laid before Parliament on 27 November, and applies across England, Scotland and Wales. It takes effect on 22 December 2025 for advance claims and on 6 April 2026 for all other purposes.

In plain terms, this order uprates the “relevant debits or credits” that arise when a couple splits and a share of the new State Pension is transferred. These adjustments-set out in Schedules 8 and 10 to the Pensions Act 2014-are revalued by reference to the general level of prices, with the percentage set in the order’s Schedule. The last order in force before you reach State Pension age is the one that bites.

The date that matters for households is 7 April 2026. Anyone reaching State Pension age on or after that date will have their state pension sharing debit or credit revalued under this 2025 order. People submitting an advance claim can do so from 22 December 2025, the order’s early commencement point for that narrow purpose.

This is not a new benefit or a stealth cut. It is an annual housekeeping exercise to ensure pension sharing amounts keep pace with prices between the year your sharing order took effect and the year you retire. The Secretary of State’s review concluded that values had not kept up with prices during the period, triggering revaluation under section 148AD of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

The instrument is signed by Torsten Bell, the minister responsible for pensions policy within DWP. Bell has held the role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Pensions) since January 2025. The signature confirms the policy continuity of these annual uprating orders under the current government.

For context, the schedule sets cumulative percentage increases by tax year. Recent history shows how this works: the 2023 order set a 6.7% factor for 2023–24 entries, reflecting inflation at that time. Northern Ireland’s corresponding 2024 rule-mirroring Great Britain practice-showed a 1.7% entry for 2024–25. The 2025 GB schedule will perform the same role for those retiring from April 2026.

Here’s how it lands for real people. If a divorce settlement in 2019–20 created a weekly state pension credit, DWP will apply the cumulative percentage for that 2019–20 entry from the order that applies when you hit State Pension age. The result is a higher weekly figure at retirement that reflects price growth over those years, rather than the nominal amount struck at the time of the split.

For anyone negotiating a split now, the practical takeaway is to record the year the state pension share is created and to model cash flow using DWP factors rather than a flat figure. That ensures both parties understand the real purchasing power of any state pension credit or debit at retirement, not just the amount stated in the court order today.

Territorial scope matters. This order covers Great Britain. Northern Ireland makes an equivalent rule separately through the Department for Communities, which publishes its own schedule and commencement dates but follows the same revaluation logic. Households there should refer to the NI instrument.

Finally, DWP has not produced a full impact assessment, stating that no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is expected. For most readers, this is an administrative but important update: it protects the real value of state pension shares for those reaching State Pension age from April 2026.