Belfast has signed off a technical but meaningful change for people whose State Pension was affected by divorce. The Department for Communities has made the State Pension Debits and Credits (Revaluation) Order (Northern Ireland) 2025, updating the inflation adjustment applied to those pension-sharing amounts. The rule was made on 27 November 2025.

There are two start dates to note. Awards on advance claims can use the new figures from 22 December 2025. For everything else the order takes effect from 6 April 2026, and it applies to anyone reaching pensionable age on or after 7 April 2026.

What exactly is being updated? When a couple split and a court orders pension sharing, the State Pension can be adjusted-adding a ‘credit’ to one person’s entitlement and a ‘debit’ to the other. Under Schedules 8 and 10 of the Pensions Act 2014, those amounts are uprated by an ‘appropriate revaluation percentage’ until pensionable age so they keep pace with prices.

The precise percentages sit in the Order’s Schedule. Great Britain’s matching instrument, S.I. 2025/1220, shows 3.8% for 2025–26 and refreshes earlier years’ cumulative figures; Northern Ireland’s order corresponds to that approach this year.

For households with work histories on both sides of the Irish Sea, alignment matters. The GB order was made on 25 November and laid before Parliament on 27 November, with the Northern Ireland instrument moving in step so claimants aren’t left second-guessing different rules.

This is not a change to the main State Pension rate or the triple lock. It only affects the separate adjustment created by pension sharing under the single-tier system introduced in 2016, where the revaluation percentage is applied to keep the debit or credit in real terms.

Who should pay attention: anyone with a pension sharing order who will reach pensionable age from 7 April 2026. The law sets slightly different calculations for ‘old scheme’ and ‘new scheme’ debits/credits, but both rely on the latest revaluation percentage set by this annual order.

Practical next steps are straightforward. Check your State Pension forecast, make sure DWP/Department for Communities have the right divorce order details, and if you’re planning an advance claim near the end of 2025, note that the award can reflect the new figures from 22 December.

The Explanatory Note confirms the Northern Ireland rule corresponds to the GB instrument this year, so the price-based uplift will be applied on the same basis for NI claimants reaching pensionable age from April 2026.