Teachers' Pension death benefits are a one-off death grant plus pensions for a spouse, partner and children, depending on when the teacher died.
Whether the family receives a lump sum, a pension or both, and how much, turns on whether the member was still working, had left, or had retired. Families who want these benefits weighed against the household's other money can hear from an FCA-authorised adviser, without paying anything, by describing the teacher's circumstances on the form on this page.
Teachers' Pension death benefits at a glance
There are three parts. The first is a death grant, a one-off lump sum. The second is a short-term pension: if the member died in service, Teachers' Pensions pays an adult beneficiary the equivalent of three months' salary, and the same again for any dependent children. The third is a long-term pension for a spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner, and for eligible children.
Teachers' Pensions says: "The Application for death benefits form should be completed in all cases, even if it’s thought that there aren’t any benefits to pass on." Notifying Teachers' Pensions of a death covers that step; for other schemes see what happens to a pension when someone dies and final salary pension death benefits.
The Teachers' Pension death grant: how much, and in what circumstances
Teachers' Pensions' factsheet (January 2026) says: "In the career average scheme a death grant of three times your final full-time equivalent salary (at the date of your death) will be paid if you die in service." Part-time and irregular hours are assessed as if full-time. The regulations say a death grant "may be paid", and Teachers' Pensions calls it discretionary and asks members to keep nominations current so their wishes are taken into account (see below).
| When the member died | Career average scheme | Final salary scheme |
|---|---|---|
| In service | 3 times annual pensionable earnings at death | 3 times average salary |
| Left service, qualified for retirement benefits, pension not yet taken | 2.25 times the accrued pension; if no adult pension is payable, the higher of that or contributions plus 3% interest | 3/80ths of final average salary multiplied by service; if no adult pension is payable, the higher of that or contributions plus 3% interest |
| Left service, not qualified for retirement benefits | The member's pension contributions plus interest at 3% | |
| Retired, died within five years | Five times the annual pension, less pension already paid | |
Lump sums already paid to the member can reduce the grant. The five-times-pension grant for a retired member is the scheme's supplementary death grant, and Teachers' Pensions says it is the same whether the pension is final salary or career average.
- Time off sick. On sick leave a member counts as in pensionable service only while receiving at least half of usual gross salary. If a member left all pensionable service because they were incapacitated and died within 12 months, an in-service grant is still payable.
- No qualifying period. Teachers' Pensions says "There’s no minimum qualifying period for an in-service death grant."
- Normal pension age reached, pension not claimed. Teachers' Pensions' page for retired members says the pension entitlement goes to the estate, plus a discretionary death grant of five times the annual pension, less the amount paid to the estate, where the estate receives under five years' worth. The factsheet describes "a posthumous award of five times your annual pension rather than an out of service death grant".
For what the two descriptions mean in a given case, an FCA-authorised adviser offers a free explanation to anyone who completes the form on this page.
Final salary or career average: which rules apply
Many teachers have both. Teachers' Pensions says: "If you have benefits in both schemes two calculations will be made, one for each type of benefit and these will be paid together." The final salary rules on this page come from the Teachers' Pensions Regulations 2010, in force from 1 September 2010; the career average rules come from the Teachers' Pension Scheme Regulations 2014, most of which came into force on 1 April 2015.
Service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022 can need one extra step. Where a member who has died had service affected by the transitional protection changes, Teachers' Pensions says "a decision maker will have to make the choice on whether that service should be in the final salary or career average scheme". That choice decides which formulas apply.
Who receives the death grant, and how to nominate someone
Without a nomination, the grant goes to the surviving spouse, civil partner or qualifying partner. Teachers' Pensions says: "If you have no spouse, civil or qualifying partner or nominee, any payment will be issued to your estate." A nomination can name "an unmarried partner or someone else of your choice regardless of their age and relationship to you", but "Please note you’re not able to nominate a Trust or Charity to receive the death grant."
- Shares. More than one person can be named, with each share stated, and an instruction on whether a share goes to the others or to the estate if someone named has died first.
- Marriage. Marrying or forming a civil partnership later does not cancel the nomination. Under the 2014 Regulations it ends if the member revokes it, names someone else, or the nominee has died. Where a marriage has ended, see Teachers' Pension and divorce.
- Older nominations. Nominations made before 1 April 2005 were not recorded when the scheme changed system, but Teachers' Pensions says the nomination "is still valid regardless of how long ago it was made".
- Not a qualifying partner. A nominee can still be paid: "The conditions for a qualifying partner don’t need to be met for payment of the death grant if a death grant nomination has been made."
A death grant nomination and a pension nomination are separate. As Teachers' Pensions puts it: "If you nominate someone to receive a death grant they’ll not receive a pension unless you make a pension nomination too." On naming people generally, see filling in an expression of wish form, nominee or beneficiary and what happens with no beneficiary.
Perhaps a nomination was written years ago and no longer reflects who you would choose today. Anyone reviewing an old nomination can have it set beside the rest of their affairs by an FCA-authorised adviser, free, after typing a few lines into the form on this page.
A Teachers' Pension for a spouse, partner or dependent relative
A spouse or registered civil partner does not need to have been nominated. If the member died in service or after retiring, a short-term pension comes first: three months' salary, or the member's pension paid in full for three months. Then comes the long-term pension, worked out differently in the two sections:
- Final salary: 1/160 of final average salary for each year of survivor benefits service, with an enhancement for a member who died in service.
- Career average: "In the career average scheme the long-term pension is the value of 37.5% of the pension you’ve earned up to your date of death." If the member died in service before normal pension age it is enhanced, using half the years left until that age.
Service counts from different dates: from 1 April 1972 for a marriage or civil partnership, or 6 April 1978 where it came after the member's last day of pensionable service or where a retired member marries or remarries.
An unmarried partner: the two-year tests
The 2014 Regulations require four conditions to hold "for a continuous period of at least 2 years ending on the member’s death": you were able to marry or form a civil partnership with each other, you lived together as a couple, neither of you lived that way with anyone else, and you were financially interdependent or your partner depended on you financially. Teachers' Pensions also sets a service condition: the member must have been in pensionable service since 1 January 2007 and either completed at least two years' service from that date or paid additional contributions to cover at least two years of earlier service. A member still in pensionable service can buy in pre-2007 service for a partner "at full cost", by election within six months of entering the relationship. For a teacher who retired before 1 January 2007 with no later service, the partner "will not be eligible to receive a survivor’s pension".
The partner must show the financial link. Teachers' Pensions' examples include a shared home, bank account or investment, a joint mortgage or loan, a mutual Power of Attorney, and naming each other as main beneficiaries; without any evidence "it’s unlikely that a pension will be paid". Unsure whether your relationship clears these tests? Bring that doubt to an FCA-authorised adviser, free, by completing the brief form on this page.
A single teacher with a dependent relative
A member who is single and has not become entitled to a retirement pension can nominate a dependent family member, such as a parent, step-parent, brother or sister, who is widowed, not married or in a civil partnership, or not living with another person as a couple. The relative must be wholly or mainly financially dependent on the member at death. The nomination is cancelled if either of them later marries or forms a civil partnership.
How long the pension lasts
Teachers' Pensions says: "If the member had pensionable employment on or after 1 January 2007 then the adult dependant’s pension will be paid for life." Otherwise it stops if the dependant remarries, enters a civil partnership or cohabits. See widow's pension and remarriage and whether it is taxable.
Children's pensions from the Teachers' Pension Scheme
No nomination is needed for a child's pension. An "eligible child" under the career average regulations is the member's child born before the death or within 12 months after it, an adopted child, or a child accepted into the member's family and wholly or mainly dependent on them. They must never have married or formed a civil partnership, and be under 17; or 17 to under 23 in full-time education without a break (one break of up to a year is allowed); or unable to earn a living because of impairment, having depended on the member because of it and not being wholly maintained from public funds.
Teachers' Pensions' death-in-service page sets the rates:
| Scheme and situation | One child | Two or more (shared equally) |
|---|---|---|
| Career average, adult pension also payable | 18.75% of accrued pension | 37.5% of accrued pension |
| Career average, no adult pension payable | 25% of accrued pension | 50% of accrued pension |
| Final salary, adult pension also payable | 1/320th of final average salary for each year from 1 April 1972 | 1/160th, divided equally |
| Final salary, no adult pension payable | 1/240th of final average salary for each year from 1 April 1972 | 1/120th, divided equally |
For a member who died in service the children's pensions are enhanced too. With no surviving adult, the short-term pension goes to the children for six months rather than three. A child's pension generally runs to 17, or 23 in full-time education, or longer if incapacitated, and stops if the child marries, takes up employment or dies; the rules differ slightly where the member's pension began before 6 April 2006. See also children as pension beneficiaries.
Teachers in Scotland: a separate scheme
Teaching service in Scotland is in the Scottish Teachers' Pension schemes, covered by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA). Of the in-service death grant, SPPA says: "This payment is three times your annual rate of pensionable earnings." If the member died within five years of retirement, a deficiency grant is payable: the difference between the pension paid and five times the annual rate of pension. Adult survivors' pensions are for life if the member was still in pensionable employment on or after 1 April 2007. For unmarried partners SPPA says "the regulations for non-legal partners are a little more complex", so use SPPA's teacher death benefits page rather than the figures above.
Is the Teachers' Pension death grant taxable, and what about inheritance tax?
GOV.UK's guide to tax on pension death benefits says most lump sums paid after a death under 75 are tax-free unless they exceed the lump sum and death benefit allowance of the person who died; where the member was 75 or older, the provider usually takes off Income Tax. The allowance is £1,073,100 according to GOV.UK, and a protected allowance may increase it. Survivors' and children's pensions usually have Income Tax taken off by the scheme, whatever the member's age.
Timing matters for a member who died under 75: a grant paid more than 2 years after the scheme learns of the death is taxed as income in full. For a particular grant, and how much of the allowance is already used, an FCA-authorised adviser will explain the position on a free call; the starting point is the form on this page. See inherited pension tax.
The Finance Act 2026 changes to pensions and inheritance tax apply to deaths on or after 6 April 2027 (section 71); see pensions and inheritance tax.
Teachers' Pension death benefits: questions families ask
What happens to my Teachers' Pension when I die?
Your own pension stops. Depending on your stage, the scheme can pay a death grant to your nominee or the person the rules name, and pensions to a spouse, civil partner, qualifying partner or eligible children.
Is there a Teachers' Pension death benefits calculator?
Teachers' Pensions says a retired member's award papers show the value of family benefits. For one still working, it depends on pay and service at death. The calculator page covers retirement figures.
Can my unmarried partner get both the death grant and a pension?
Yes, but by separate routes: a death grant nomination for the lump sum, and a partner's pension only if the two-year tests and the service condition are met.
Does a spouse's pension stop if they remarry?
Not if the member had pensionable employment on or after 1 January 2007, when it is paid for life. For earlier leavers it can stop; widow's pension and remarriage has the wider picture.
How do I claim Teachers' Pension death benefits?
Report the death by form or on 0345 606 6166 (8.30am-6.00pm, Monday to Friday), as this guide explains.
Where the family can go from here
Teachers' Pensions holds the records and confirms what it will pay. To think through the estate and the family's other pensions together, an FCA-authorised adviser covers the whole picture with you in a no-cost phone conversation; the first move is the form on this page.
Sources
- Teachers' Pensions (Department for Education): Death benefits factsheet (January 2026); Death in service; Death benefits (once retired); Nominations; Family benefits FAQs; Death grant (relatives and advisors), read from 2026 Internet Archive snapshots on 21 October 2026
- legislation.gov.uk: Teachers' Pension Scheme Regulations 2014, regulations 1 and 133 to 141 (commencement, death grant, qualifying partner, eligible child); Teachers' Pensions Regulations 2010, regulations 1, 82 and 83; Finance Act 2026, section 71
- GOV.UK: Tax on pension death benefits; Lump sum allowance
- SPPA: Teacher death benefits