NI sets state pension sharing revaluation April 2026

Northern Ireland has confirmed the 2025 State Pension Debits and Credits (Revaluation) Order. It was made on 27 November 2025 and takes effect on 22 December 2025 for advance claims, and on 6 April 2026 for all other purposes. The aim is to keep pension sharing ‘debits’ and ‘credits’ aligned with price rises so their value holds when you come to claim. The Department for Communities’ rule sits alongside the Great Britain order S.I. 2025/1220.

Let’s pin down the terms you’ll teach and use. When a marriage or civil partnership ends and a court makes a pension sharing order, the person giving up a share gets a ‘debit’ recorded against their new State Pension and the person receiving a share gets a ‘credit’. A debit lowers the weekly amount you’d otherwise get; a credit increases it. These rules live in the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 and are adjusted each year by order.

Who is affected by this new order? You are in scope if you reach State Pension age on or after 7 April 2026 and you have a debit or credit from a pension sharing decision. If you reach State Pension age before that date, last year’s Northern Ireland order continues to apply to you.

Dates to remember for lesson plans and life admin: from 22 December 2025, advance claims can be processed for people who will reach State Pension age on or after 7 April 2026. For all other purposes, the order applies from 6 April 2026. If your State Pension age falls earlier than April 2026, you’re covered by the 2024 Northern Ireland order.

How revaluation works in plain English: the law asks government to review the general level of prices and then uplift the recorded debit or credit by set percentages for each tax year listed in the schedule. This prevents a credit created years ago from shrinking in real terms by the time you claim. The Great Britain order lists the year‑by‑year percentages, and the Northern Ireland instrument follows the same approach.

A quick classroom distinction helps here. Revaluation happens before you start getting your pension: it updates the debit or credit you carry into the calculation. Uprating is different; that’s what happens to the pension you’re already being paid, usually each April. Keeping those two ideas separate makes the timeline much clearer.

Why the timing rule matters: your debit or credit is revalued by the last order in force before you reach State Pension age. So if you reach it on 8 April 2026, this 2025 order is the one that will apply to your figures. That’s why the April date is a key cut‑off when you’re checking which order covers you.

A simple scenario to teach or test understanding: imagine a pension sharing order in 2019–20 gives you a credit towards your new State Pension. That credit sits on your record and is increased in line with the schedule until the point you reach State Pension age, when it’s brought into your pension calculation. The GB schedule shows how those yearly increases stack up; NI’s order corresponds.

Placing this in law for learners: the Northern Ireland rule is made under sections 130AD and 165 of the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992. It works with Schedules 8 and 10 to the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 and Article 46A(2) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999. You can read the official text on legislation.gov.uk.

What you can do now: if you think there’s a debit or credit on your record, keep your court paperwork and your State Pension age date handy. If your State Pension age is on or after 7 April 2026, you can make an advance claim from 22 December 2025; otherwise, your case is handled under the earlier 2024 order. For personal guidance, speak to an independent pensions adviser or Citizens Advice.