Yes, you can usually transfer a pension after age 75: HMRC sets no upper age limit, though your scheme's rules and the receiving provider decide.
Free guidance is the first stop. MoneyHelper's Pension Wise service takes phone bookings from anyone aged 50 or over, while its online appointment stops at 74. Your own fund, scheme and family settle the answer in the end, and an FCA-authorised adviser can review all three after a call-back requested on this page's form.
Can you transfer a pension after age 75?
Usually, yes. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual treats age as irrelevant to the tax rules on moving pension rights: whatever the scheme's own rules allow can be done at any time, with no lower or upper age limit. Turning 75 does not shut the door. It changes how death benefits are taxed, and it can matter to the terms of some individual plans.
The money has to land in another registered pension scheme, or a qualifying recognised overseas one. Anywhere else, GOV.UK says the move counts as an unauthorised payment and tax is due. For the step-by-step process see how to transfer a pension; for tax on a move, pension transfer tax.
When can you transfer a pension fund, and who can refuse?
Two schemes must be willing: the one you leave and the one you join. GOV.UK tells you to confirm that the old scheme lets you move some or all of the pot and that the new one will take it. HMRC adds that a scheme has no general duty to accept money coming in; only stakeholder pensions are bound to take transfers from other registered schemes.
Restrictions people meet at 75 and beyond include:
- Plan terms. Scottish Widows says on its annuity page: "Some of our pension plans need you to take retirement benefits or transfer to another plan by the age of 75." That is one firm describing some of its plans, so check your own paperwork.
- Scheme type. If you belong to an unfunded public sector scheme (MoneyHelper names the Teachers' and NHS schemes), the only place to move is another defined benefit scheme. See the NHS and Teachers' pages.
- Scam checks. Under the 2021 transfer conditions, trustees or managers can find a red flag, for instance where the member "has been offered an incentive to make the transfer" or the request followed unsolicited direct marketing. With a red flag present, the Regulations' second condition fails; how long a transfer takes explains amber flags.
Whether your plan sets an age-75 cut-off is written in its terms. Through the enquiry form here, a free call-back puts those terms before an FCA-authorised adviser, who reads them with you.
How turning 75 affects tax around a transfer
The transfer rules do not change; the tax around the pot does, in two ways.
The lifetime allowance ended on 6 April 2024. Two allowances now limit tax-free lump sums. The lump sum allowance is usually up to 25% of what is built up, with a ceiling of £268,275. A second, the lump sum and death benefit allowance, stands at £1,073,100 and also takes in certain lump sums paid to beneficiaries. Among the losses GOV.UK says a move may bring are any fixed or enhanced protection you hold and a right to tax-free cash over a quarter of the pot. Pension rules at 75 covers the allowance test.
Death benefits are the second change, and the age of the pot's owner at death drives them. A beneficiary's tax usually turns on the payment type, the pot type and that age.
| What the beneficiary receives | Owner was under 75 | Owner was 75 or older |
|---|---|---|
| A lump sum (most kinds) | Tax-free, so long as it fits inside the allowance of the person who died | Provider deducts Income Tax |
| Annuity income, or a drawdown fund first accessed from 6 April 2015 (defined contribution) | Tax-free | Provider deducts Income Tax |
| Scheme pension, from either pot type | Provider deducts Income Tax | Provider deducts Income Tax |
Before 75 the lump sum also has to be paid in time, since GOV.UK says tax applies to a lump sum paid over 2 years after the provider hears of the death. Separately, Finance Act 2026 section 66 treats certain pension interests as part of the estate for inheritance tax where the death falls on or after 6 April 2027 (section 71); pension death benefits sets that out. Paying into a pension at this age has its own rules in pension tax relief after 75.
Defined benefit transfers after 75
A final salary or other defined benefit (DB) pension needs the most care. The FCA, writing with the Pensions Regulator, says keeping a DB pension is "in most people’s best interests", and warns that a completed transfer cannot be undone. Moving out means giving up a guaranteed lifetime income that carries on for your dependants.
The law backs that up. Section 48 of the Pension Schemes Act 2015 says trustees or managers "must check that the member or survivor has received appropriate independent advice" before safeguarded benefits are transferred to acquire flexible ones. Regulation 5 of SI 2015/742 sets an exception: no check is needed where the transfer value of those rights is £30,000 or less on the valuation date. In the FCA's words: "Depending on the value of your pension, you may have to do this by law." See final salary pensions and finding a transfer specialist.
Moving a pension that is already in drawdown
A pension in payment can move, on stricter terms. HMRC's manual requires the whole of a drawdown fund to go, and treats a part-transfer of a pension in payment as an unauthorised payment.
No pension commencement lump sum arises from the move, so moving at this age creates no fresh tax-free cash. For the detail see transferring a drawdown pension.
Checks before moving money in your seventies or eighties
The FCA warns that scams tend to dangle attractive offers to get you to move your pot, and lists the tell-tale signs on its pension scams page. An unexpected approach is a reason to stop. Ask both providers about exit fees and any guarantees or protections you would lose, using pension transfer fees and pension transfer rules as a checklist.
Want a second opinion before you sign? Once the enquiry form here is complete, an FCA-authorised adviser phones, and the call-back costs nothing.
Common worries about transfers at 75 and over
Does the lifetime allowance stop me transferring?
No. That allowance no longer exists, and GOV.UK says the two lump sum allowances took its place for tax-free lump sums.
Would transferring before 75 change my beneficiaries' tax?
The date of a transfer is not one of the factors GOV.UK lists: tax on inherited pensions usually turns on the payment type, the pot type and the owner's age at death. Above that age most lump sums are taxed as income through the provider.
Can a final salary pension be transferred over 75?
It can be, if both schemes allow it, except that an unfunded public sector scheme can only move to another defined benefit scheme. Where the transfer value of your safeguarded benefits is over £30,000, the scheme must first check you have had appropriate independent advice, and the FCA and the Pensions Regulator believe keeping a DB pension is in most people’s best interests.
Must a stakeholder pension take my transfer?
HMRC says stakeholder pension schemes are required to accept transfers from other registered schemes. Others may decline.
Will money I add to the new scheme after 75 get tax relief?
No. Payments can go in after your 75th birthday, but HMRC treats them as not relievable, so no relief is added to them. Employer payments are covered in pension tax relief after 75.