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.
Naming a pension beneficiary raises two questions at once: who is allowed on the form, and what that person would actually be paid. The answer can differ for a spouse, an unmarried partner, a child, a friend and a charity, and again between a pot of savings, a promised income and an annuity. Whoever you want to name, an FCA-authorised adviser can measure that wish against the rules of each pension you hold, free, after you finish this page's short form.
What is a pension beneficiary?
A pension beneficiary is a person or organisation you pick to receive money or income from your pension after your death. With a defined contribution pot MoneyHelper says there can be "one or more" of them, and if you have already drawn some of the money they will usually get whatever is left. Naming someone is normally a request rather than an order, because the provider or trustees usually keep the final decision on who is paid.
Whether a scheme must follow your choice, and what the different labels mean, are the subject of pension nominee vs beneficiary; how to fill in an expression of wish form covers the form itself. This page takes the people one at a time.
Who can you name as a pension beneficiary?
For a defined contribution pot, the tax rules sort the individuals you name into two groups. HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual treats a spouse or civil partner on the date of death, and a child under 23, as a dependant. Anyone else is a dependant only if the scheme administrator decides that on the date of death they were financially dependent on you, in a financial relationship of mutual dependence with you, or dependent because of a physical or mental impairment. An individual you chose who is not a dependant is a nominee.
| Who you name | Defined contribution pot | Defined benefit scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse or civil partner | A dependant for tax. What is paid, and in what form, follows the scheme's own death benefit rules. | Can usually be paid a dependant's pension. |
| Unmarried partner | A dependant only if the administrator accepts one of the three tests above; otherwise a nominee if you named them. | The same test. A pension paid to someone outside it needs the scheme's rules to allow it and is taxed as unauthorised, at up to 55%. |
| Child under 23 | A dependant. The age and payment rules are in naming a child as a pension beneficiary. | Can usually be paid as a dependant. |
| Adult child (23 or over) | Not a dependant unless dependent through impairment, so usually a nominee. | Normally outside the dependant test, so the position above applies to any pension paid to them. |
| Friend, sibling or grandchild | A nominee, unless the administrator accepts them as a dependant. | Normally outside the dependant test. |
| Charity | An organisation can be named, with extra tax conditions for a charity lump sum (see below). | Your scheme booklet says whether it takes a nomination, and for what. |
| Trust | Not a nominee, since only an individual can be one; see pension beneficiary and trusts. | Scheme rules decide. |
The defined benefit column leans on GOV.UK's wording: a pension from a defined benefit pot can usually only be paid to a dependant, "for example a husband, wife, civil partner or child under 23". HMRC adds that a scheme may have its own definition of dependant, although the tax definition is what decides whether a payment is authorised.
Partners and children
Being married to you, or your civil partner, on the date you die settles the question for tax. For a partner you live with but have not married, the administrator weighs the three tests above on the date of death. A child's position turns on age, 23 being the line in both the HMRC manual and GOV.UK.
Friends, siblings and adult children
These are the people the nominee label exists for. A child aged 23 or over counts as a dependant only through impairment (or under transitional provisions), so an adult son or daughter is usually named as a nominee, like a friend or sibling. You can name more than one: where there is more than one nominee, HMRC says schemes can choose to pay a pension to each. How a nominee differs from a dependant is set out in the nominee and beneficiary guide.
A charity
A charity cannot be a nominee, since a nominee must be an individual, but HMRC separately describes a charity lump sum death benefit. After your death a lump sum counts as one only if it is paid from a money purchase arrangement (including a cash balance arrangement), to a charity you nominated, and "at the time it is paid there are no dependants of the member." For that test a child counts as a dependant only while under 23, or if older and dependent through physical or mental impairment, or under transitional provisions. The money must come from your remaining drawdown or flexi-access drawdown fund, or from uncrystallised funds not used to buy a pension or annuity or set aside for drawdown. The charity must be established for charitable purposes only, and the scheme administrator cannot choose it. If someone who inherited your drawdown fund dies, the same kind of payment can go to a charity you nominated or, if you named none, one they nominated, again only when you leave no dependants. An uncrystallised funds lump sum is different: HMRC's rules leave the choice of recipient open, though a scheme's own rules may narrow it.
What can a pension beneficiary actually get?
The answer depends on what the pension is when you die, and on the scheme's own rules inside the limits the tax rules set.
A defined contribution pot
Beneficiaries can usually take the whole pot as a lump sum or use it to buy an annuity, MoneyHelper says, and might also be able to leave it invested in drawdown, with the options set by the scheme's death benefit rules. Someone who inherits a pot held in drawdown can name a successor in turn; beneficiary flexi-access drawdown explains how.
A defined benefit scheme
There is no personal pot to hand on, so the scheme decides what is paid. MoneyHelper's example is a dependant's pension, which can usually go only to a partner or children, the children until 23. For scheme examples, see workplace pension death benefits and local government pension death benefits.
A lifetime annuity
MoneyHelper says an annuity income usually stops on death unless you chose a guarantee period, a joint-life basis or value protection when you set it up. Any income or lump sum is "only payable to the people you named when you set it up", so the choice is made when you buy. The annuity guide at pension annuities explains each option.
What a beneficiary receives depends on the pot or scheme on the day. To see how your own pensions would treat the people you have in mind, ask an FCA-authorised adviser to call you through the request form here.
Tax in brief for a pension beneficiary
Tax on an inherited pension has the detail. In outline, GOV.UK's usual position for most lump sums is this. A death before 75 normally means no tax, with two exceptions: the sum is bigger than the dead person's lump sum and death benefit allowance, or the provider pays it late, more than 2 years after being told. A death at 75 or later means the provider deducts Income Tax.
Inheritance Tax is changing by statute. Section 66 of the Finance Act 2026 adds section 150A to the Inheritance Tax Act 1984: a scheme member is "treated as beneficially entitled immediately before their death" to "notional pension property". For deaths on or after 6 April 2027 (section 71), unused pension money is brought into the estate. HMRC's policy paper excludes death in service benefits from a registered scheme, and dependant's scheme pensions from a defined benefit or collective money purchase arrangement. Pensions and inheritance tax goes through it, and pension death benefits gives the wider picture.
Back-up and contingent pension beneficiaries
A contingent beneficiary is a second choice who takes over if the first cannot. GOV.UK describes the problem it solves: a provider may pay a different person where the one named has died or cannot be traced. A form that names a back-up gives the provider your own second choice to look at first. Whether your provider's form has room for a back-up, and how it records shares between several people, is for the provider to say; an adviser can explain how yours works, at no cost, if you send in the request form here.
If you named nobody, or the person you named dies after the money has been paid, two other pages pick up the story: what happens if no beneficiary is named and what happens when the beneficiary dies.
Everyday questions about a pension beneficiary
How much does a pension beneficiary get?
There is no standard share: it is the pot, or what the scheme's rules provide, when the death is dealt with. For an uncrystallised funds lump sum, HMRC says growth between the death and payment may be included. Splitting between several people is possible, but how shares are recorded is for your provider's form.
Can I name different people on different pensions?
MoneyHelper's guidance is to tell the provider or trustees of a pension who you would like to receive it, so wishes are given pension by pension, whether a SIPP, a personal pension or a workplace scheme. If you would like different people on different pensions, an FCA-authorised adviser will check how each scheme would handle that, free, after a request through this page's form.
What is left for a beneficiary once my final salary pension is being paid?
MoneyHelper suggests checking whether the pension has a guarantee period, the minimum period it will pay an income for. If you die before it ends, your beneficiaries would receive a lump sum of the guaranteed payments you should have received, called a pension protection lump sum. If you die before taking the pension, they might receive a refund of your contributions plus interest instead.
Can I name a beneficiary once I have started drawing my pension?
MoneyHelper says beneficiaries will usually get whatever is left if you have taken some money, and that you can usually tell your provider or trustees who you would like to receive it. An annuity is different, since the people entitled are those named when it was bought.
Can my estate be my pension beneficiary?
Sometimes, because HMRC says that in some cases death benefits are payable to the member's estate, and then they form part of the estate for Inheritance Tax. MoneyHelper's example is Nest, where the pot will normally form part of your estate if you do not complete an expression of wish form. The no-beneficiary guide covers that outcome.
Reviewing who you have named
Each pension keeps its own record, so a list of every provider and scheme, and who is on each form, is a sensible start. MoneyHelper's advice is to keep it updated after life events such as marriage, divorce, children or the death of someone you listed; the expression of wish guide shows how. With your list ready, an FCA-authorised adviser will read it alongside each pension you hold; the request form here starts the call.
Documents read on 29 October 2026 for this page: the MoneyHelper death-and-pensions guide (via the Internet Archive, snapshot of 26 July 2026); the GOV.UK inherited pension tax guide; HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual at PTM071200, PTM071300, PTM073200 and PTM073900; HMRC's Inheritance Tax Manual at IHTM17030; Finance Act 2026 s66 and s71; and HMRC's policy paper on unused pension funds and death benefits.