‘I can’t get divorced as I can’t get my pension valued’

“I thought I was done crying,” says teacher Amy Goldsmith.

“I’m two and a half years into my world having been turned upside down and I would very much like that to be over.”

Like hundreds of other teachers, Amy is stuck, unable to go ahead with her divorce because of long delays working out the value of her pension.

This is needed by the courts to decide whether it should be shared with her ex-partner, and without which it is almost impossible to reach a financial settlement.

“I was in limbo over my relationship and naively thought I could get the paperwork and move on,” she said.

“I’m now in another limbo and just feel totally impotent.”

Amy, 43, is waiting for the valuation from Teachers’ Pensions – which runs the teachers’ pensions scheme (TPS) on behalf of the Department for Education.

But it has been struggling to meet demand.

The government, which described the calculations as “extremely complex” and requiring a specialised role to complete, said it aims to clear most of the current backlog by the end of February.