“The recent well-publicised changes to pension regulations mean pension investments are virtually to be treated as bank accounts to people aged over 55, as these parties are. Why should someone receive more just on the basis of gender? There may have been an explanation when rules required the purchase of an annuity. However, to give the wife more than the husband, on account of either age or gender would seem to me to be unacceptable discrimination unless it is a case governed solely by needs.

“I should expect courts to be most reluctant in the future – in bigger-money cases – to provide permission for actuarial reports on the issue of how to effect equality of income. Moreover, I suspect that annuities will, in the overwhelming majority of cases, become a thing of the past.”

The new rules offer greater flexibility and should make it easier to deal with pensions on a divorce settlement. However, they will take some time to bed in and, in the interim, there will be a lot of opportunities for advisers to work with clients and their legal representatives.

Mike Morrison is head of platform technical at AJ Bell