What is likely to be a divorcing couple’s most valuable asset? The family home will spring to most people’s minds first. But with the value of final salary pensions soaring that forgotten “defined benefit” income could well be the biggest single asset in the relationship.

If one half of the couple has no pension or other way of funding their retirement, overlooking their ex’s pension could prove to be a costly mistake.

Factor in many stay-at-home parents’ gaps in their entitlement to state pension and it’s clear pensions have never been a more important consideration for divorcing couples.

Don’t ignore the pension – it might be the most important asset in the relationship

Defined benefit pensions, often known as final salary pensions, have shot up in value in recent years. This does not mean the amount you get out of them has risen, but instead the cost to the employer in providing them has risen.

Under today’s flexible pension rules anyone with a defined benefit scheme from a private company – not the public sector – can demand a cash transfer and, if they are age 55 or more, get their hands on what could be a considerable lump sum. Xafinity, a firm of actuaries, said the value of final salary pensions rose by 15pc in 2016 – almost triple the 5.7pc increase in house prices recorded by Halifax.