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What happens to a pension on death depends on the type of pension, your age and who you nominate. These guides explain death benefits, beneficiaries and how tax applies.
Talk to an adviser before you choose →Pension inheritance tax in the UK turns on the date of death: most unused pensions stay outside the estate before 6 April 2027 and fall inside it after.
BT Pension Scheme bereavement benefits start with a lifelong pension for a spouse or civil partner; lump sums and other pensions depend on the member's sec…
Yes, a child under 18 can be named to receive a pension after you die. How they are paid, and for how long, depends on the type of pension and the scheme's…
A pension beneficiary can be contested after death, but usually only by challenging how the decision was made, not by changing who the member named.
Can equity release reduce inheritance tax? The loan is a debt that can lower the estate, but money you keep is still counted and the interest adds up.
Can you get a widow's pension and still work? Usually yes: Bereavement Support Payment ignores earnings, though tax and means-tested benefits such as Unive…
Yes, additional State Pension inheritance can happen: a widow, widower or surviving civil partner may inherit part of SERPS or State Second Pension.
Can a pension beneficiary be a trust? For a lump sum, yes, if the scheme agrees. For beneficiary drawdown, no, and the tax and inheritance tax rules differ.
For a Civil Service pension on death, the member's section (classic to alpha) and stage decide the lump sum and any partner's or children's pension.
Pension transfers and inheritance tax: an ordinary transfer is rarely taxed, but one made in ill health can be a transfer of value that HMRC looks at.
Firefighters' pension death benefits: a husband, wife or partner usually gets a pension, eligible children can too, and a lump sum death grant may follow.
How long a widow's pension is paid depends on the type: Bereavement Support Payment stops after 18 months, but a survivor's pension from a scheme is often…
UK pension death benefits usually go to people the scheme chooses, guided by your wishes; type of pension and age at death shape them and their tax.
How to claim a widow's pension: there is no single claim, so the steps depend on whether the money comes from the State, a pension scheme or both.
A pension expression of wish form tells your provider or trustees who you would like paid when you die. It guides them but usually does not bind them.
The NHS pension nomination form is DB2 to name who gets the lump sum, PN1 for an unmarried partner and NOM1 to cancel; DB1 is for pre-2008 leavers.
How to avoid SIPP inheritance tax: for deaths from 6 April 2027 most unused pensions count towards the estate, so what you control is who receives it and how.
Bereavement Support Payment is not means-tested, and NHS and PPF widow's pensions are a share of the member's; Pension Credit does count pensions as income.
Is a widow's pension taxable? A survivor's pension paid by the scheme is taxed as income at any age, as is the State Pension; a war widow's pension is not.
Inherited pension tax turns on the owner's age at death: under 75 and paid within two years, usually no income tax; at 75 or over, taxed as income.
Local government pension scheme death benefits: a lump sum plus partner and children's pensions, with no age-75 limit in England and Wales (backdated to 20…
Mineworkers Pension Scheme death benefits can include a spouse's pension, pensions for children and a lump sum, and the Scheme has to be told of a death di…
A pension nominee is someone you name; a beneficiary is whoever the scheme actually pays. Most UK schemes treat a nomination as a wish, not an order.
A pension overpayment after death is money paid for a period after the person died. DWP or the scheme may ask for it back, and in some cases the estate rep…
For notification of death on a Phoenix Life pension, give Phoenix the policy number and, if you write, an original death certificate. Tax then depends on a…
Royal Mail pension death benefits can come from up to three schemes, each with its own lump sum, survivor's pension and nomination form.
Teachers' Pension death benefits are a one-off death grant plus pensions for a spouse, partner and children, depending on when the teacher died.
To notify Teachers' Pensions of a death, the beneficiary completes its death-notification form or phones its Contact Centre. Scotland has a separate team.
War widows pension rates for 2026/27: £188.15 a week at the standard rate, paid from age 40, plus an Age Allowance from 65. The pension is tax free.
When someone on Pension Credit dies, or their partner does, DWP needs to be told, and what a surviving partner can get is worked out again for one person.
What happens to my Prudential pension when I die? Prudential usually decides who is paid, guided by your nomination, and tax depends on your age at death.
If no beneficiary is named, a pension is not simply lost: the scheme or provider usually decides who is paid, and some schemes pay the estate.
A police pension on death passes to the family as a lump sum death grant and pensions for a spouse, partner or children, under 1987, 2006 or 2015 rules.
Will a widow's pension stop if you remarry? It depends on whether it is a State payment or a scheme pension, and on the dates involved.
What happens to a workplace pension when you die depends on its type: a defined contribution pot usually passes to beneficiaries, a defined benefit scheme…
When a pension beneficiary dies after inheriting, money left in their drawdown fund can pass on again; if they die before you, name someone new.
Equity release when you die: the lifetime mortgage is usually repaid from the sale of the home, and what is left goes to your estate.
A USS pension on death can mean a lump sum, a pension for a spouse, partner or children, and any Investment Builder savings, depending on your stage.
Beneficiary flexi-access drawdown is how a dependant, nominee or successor keeps an inherited pension invested and takes income as they choose.
Personal pension term assurance was life cover paid for from pension contributions. Tax relief on new policies ended in 2007, but some older ones kept it.
A pension beneficiary is anyone you choose to receive your pension when you die. Who qualifies, and what each can get, depends on the type of pension.
Three short questions, no financial details to start. One FCA-authorised adviser firm can talk through your pension or equity release questions and explain your options, and how it is paid. Free to enquire, no obligation.