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.
What your loved ones may receive depends on whether you are paying in, have left, or have retired. Prefer to talk it through? An FCA-authorised adviser can call you, free, once you add your number to this page’s form.
What does the USS pension pay when a member dies?
It can pay a lump sum, spouse, civil partner or dependant pensions, and pensions for eligible children, with Investment Builder savings separate.
| Where you are | Lump sum | Spouse or civil partner |
|---|---|---|
| Paying in | Three times your annual salary | Around half the pension you would have had by 65 |
| Left USS | Three times the pension you have built up | Around half the value of your benefits |
| Retired | Only if you die within five years of retiring | Around half your standard pension |
How the pension builds up is in how much USS pension you will get and whether USS is final salary; rules for any scheme are in pension death benefits.
Death in service: how much is the USS lump sum?
If you die while paying in, USS’s factsheet says: "A lump sum of three times your full annual salary. If you work part-time it’ll be the actual salary you receive, not the full time equivalent. Under certain circumstances, if you used to earn more than you do when you die, your lump sum may be higher."
Rule 23.1 of the Scheme Rules (7 April 2026) sets "the greater of A and B, where: A = 3 times the annual rate of Salary of the Member at the date of death", subject to sub-rules 23.2 to 23.5. Before 65 the lump sum may be slightly more if you leave no spouse, civil partner, dependant or eligible child.
Cover is reduced "if you’ve used Scheme Pays, taken cash payments from your Investment Builder pot or transferred savings out", so see transferring a USS pension first. The trustee decides who is paid, taking your wishes into consideration; that can be a relative, dependant, personal representative, nominee or a charity.
What pension does a USS spouse, civil partner or dependant get?
A surviving spouse or civil partner gets a pension for life of around half of yours, and an unmarried partner or other dependant may get one, never more than a spouse would. For a member paying in, USS works it out as half of what you have built up plus half of what you would have built up to 65. With five years or more of membership, the first three months are paid at a higher rate. Part could go to a dependant instead if you were not living with your spouse.
The Scheme Rules define a dependant as an individual who "in the opinion of the Trustee Company is at the time of the death of that person wholly or partly either: (a) financially dependent on that person; or (b) dependent on that person because of any physical or mental disability." USS’s example is "a common-law partner you share a joint mortgage or bills with, provided they can demonstrate that they were either partly or wholly financially dependent on you when you died."
Where a member dies while paying in and leaves no spouse or civil partner, rule 29 says the trustee "may pay" a dependant a pension, after the first three months "for such period as the Trustee Company may decide", so it may not be for life. Under that rule the trustee "shall have regard to, but not be bound by, any wishes of the Member that were expressed by them in writing". If your partner is not your spouse, it may help to see where that leaves them; this page’s form can book you a free talk with an adviser.
Does USS pay a pension to children?
Yes, to eligible children. USS says they can get up to 75% of the pension the spouse's is based on (for a retired member, the standard pension): "If you have one eligible child they’ll get half (37.5%), and two or more will share the 75% between them."
A child counts if aged under 18; between 18 and 23, they must be in full-time education or "full-time training approved by the Trustee Company"; and at any age if they cannot support themselves because of a physical or mental disability. With no spouse, civil partner or dependant, the share rises from 75% to 100%. See also children as pension beneficiaries.
What happens to my Investment Builder savings when I die?
Savings still invested go to your beneficiaries. Under the Scheme Rules the trustee "shall hold the value of the Member’s DC Account on the Discretionary Trusts", so it decides who receives them. USS says they are usually tax-free on death before 75 up to your remaining Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (£1,073,100 according to GOV.UK, possibly more with existing lifetime allowance protection); above that, or on death after 75, the recipient pays tax at their marginal rate.
While you are paying in, only part goes to beneficiaries: additional contributions (excluding the employer's Match) and recently transferred savings. Normal contributions above the salary threshold, and the Match, are credited back to USS, because the lump sum uses your full salary. Tax on inherited pensions covers the general position.
Dying after retirement: the five-year lump sum and the pension that follows
After retirement, a lump sum is limited to the first five years, while pensions for a spouse, dependant and children continue. USS: "If you die within the first five years of retiring, a lump sum may be payable. Generally, it will be broadly three times your annual salary (or the salary threshold, if you earn above it) at the time you retire, minus any lump sum benefits and pension already received."
The Rules provide for "a lump sum benefit of A minus G", where G is the pension and lump sum already paid, and a cap applies: "a cap of the balance of pension and lump sum payments due between the date of death and the point five years after you retired (based on the rate of your pension at the date of death)." After five years there is no lump sum from the Retirement Income Builder.
A spouse or civil partner gets a pension for life of half the standard pension you had at retirement, plus USS standard pension increases up to your death. Taking more or less lump sum at retirement does not change it. Flexible retirement is worked out differently: see when you can take your USS pension.
Nominations: how do I tell USS who should receive my benefits?
You complete an Expression of Wish form in My USS for the lump sum and Investment Builder savings, and a Registration of potential dependant form if you are not married or in a civil partnership.
The lump sum is paid at USS’s discretion, with your wishes taken into consideration. USS recommends updating forms at least every three years; without one, it considers documents such as your Will, though not your latest wishes. See filling in a wish form, nominee or beneficiary and naming a beneficiary.
Telling USS, and what happens to the tax
USS’s Bereavement Team is on 0333 300 1043. USS currently says that because the lump sum is discretionary, "it is not subject to inheritance tax".
Separately, Finance Act 2026 changes the inheritance tax treatment of certain pension interests for deaths on or after 6 April 2027 (sections 66 and 71); the general rules are in pensions and inheritance tax.
Questions about a USS pension and death
Is there life cover with the USS pension?
Yes, while you pay in, and a level of it after you leave: three times your salary plus pensions, then three times the pension you have built up, with pensions not enhanced.
Who gets my USS pension if I am not married?
A dependant may be paid a pension, never more than a spouse would get, if the trustee accepts they depended on you. A Registration of potential dependant form tells USS whom you would want considered.
What happens if I leave USS and then die?
Your loved ones can still be eligible, with a lump sum of three times the pension you had built up.
Talking it through
This page’s short form arranges an unhurried phone chat, free of charge, with an FCA-authorised adviser about how USS, other pots, your family and the 2027 inheritance tax change fit together.