Pensions: Law, Policy and Practice

State pensions are the largest item in the UK social security budget, estimated to cost £91.6 billion in 2016/17, with 12.9 million recipients paid an average of £7,100 each. Enormous wealth is also managed by the trustees of occupational pension schemes on behalf of members to whom distributions are eventually made as a form of deferred remuneration for their work; in 2015, 33.5 million people were members of such schemes in the UK. In legal practice, social security law and pensions law are areas that have become increasingly specialised, with many solicitors and barristers making these their exclusive practice areas. Despite their social significance, and their importance in legal practice, pensions have not been the subject of rigorous and sustained attention by legal academics. This book fills this gap.