Knowing what will happen to your pension when you die is important.
Inform the pension fund
Firstly, your LGPS pension must stop when you die.
Your spouse, civil partner, eligible cohabiting partner, next-of-kin or the person dealing with your estate must immediately inform us on tel: 01629 538900 of your date of death to avoid any overpayment of your pension.
Payments to your beneficiaries after your death
There are 3 possible payments from the pension fund after you die:
- A lump sum (only payable if you are under 75 when you die):
- payable to someone you have nominated via the 'expression of wish' form.
- A survivor’s pension only payable to:
- your spouse
- your registered civil partner
- your eligible co-habiting partner (subject to certain conditions and only if you were a contributing member on or after 1 April 2008).
- An eligible child's pension if, when you die, your child:
- is under 18
- is under 23 if they are in full-time continuing education
- has a permanent physical or mental impairment and is dependent on you at the time of your death.
Lump sum
If you're under 75 when you die and have made an expression of wish nomination, that person or people you nominated may be due a lump sum after your death. This will depend on when you started to receive your pension.
If you haven’t made a nomination, you can do so at any time, but should you die without having made a nomination, a lump sum payment may still be payable to your estate, although it may take a little longer to arrange.
We can’t pay a lump sum if you are over 75 when you die.
If you haven’t made a nomination, or wish to change your nomination, please use the form attached to this page.
If you finished work and stopped paying into the pension scheme
Before 1 April 1998
The calculation of the death grant depends on whether you have more than, or less than, 10 years service that counts towards the calculation of your pension benefits. The calculation is complex and you can contact us for an estimate of the amount that may be payable, if applicable.
Between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 2008
A lump sum death grant will be paid if you die and less than 5 years pension has been paid and you are under age 75 at the age of death. The amount payable would be:
- 5 times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership in the scheme (after giving up any pension for a tax free cash lump), less any pension already paid to you.
On or after 1 April 2008
A lump sum death grant will be paid if you die and less than 10 years pension has been paid and you are under age 75 at the date of death. The amount payable would be:
- 10 times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership of the scheme after 31 March 2014 (before giving up any pension for a tax free cash lump sum), less any pension already paid to you in respect of your post 31 March 2014 membership and the amount of any tax-free cash lump sum you chose to take by giving up some of the pension you built up after 31 March 2014 when you took your pension at retirement, plus
- 10 times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership of the scheme before 1 April 2014 (after giving up any pension for a tax free cash lump sum), less any pension already paid to you in respect of your pre 1 April 2014 membership.
However, if you are receiving a pension and you are also an active and/or deferred member of the LGPS when you die, the death grant payable is the higher of:
Pension
The amount of pension we can pay to your surviving beneficiary after you die depends on how long you paid into the pension scheme and the pay which you received.
Full details of how your survivor’s pension will be worked out are available on the national LGPS Member’s website.
Links to useful documents