Pension Entitlement?

[EDDIE51]

This is for a friend . She has just got a letter from a pension provider about her late fathers pension.He died last year.
They want to know details of his spouse, however she died 9 years before he did. He has no other relatives still alive.
Will she get his pension, she had no idea that he even had pension, what should she do?

[VHG]

The pension usually only goes to the person whose pension it is, or when they die to a spouse (if it has been specified in the pension paperwork).

If there is no spouse the pension stops.

If you think about it, if the son or daughter got the pension when the pension holder died and then THEIR children got it they could go on paying out the pension for ever.

It has to stop at some point.

[woofgang]

Is there any reason why she shouldn't just answer the letter?

[EDDIE51]

She had no idea he had a pension or any estate, she has had to pay over £2000 to even arrange the funeral , he died over 200 miles away and had to pay to get his body home. Would even the pension contributions be refundable to cover her expenses?

[bednobs]

She'll have to ask the people who administer the scheme. The estate would have to cover the funeral expenses

[woofgang]

I am assuming that your friend knows enough not to pay any fees or to give her bank details?

[EDDIE51]

They (HSBC by the way) are not asking for money,just asking who to make the payments to.

[Hypognosis]

It sounds like a standard letter. As a general rule, the wife lives longer so the provider is going through the motions of transferring the payments to her name and bank account. They may ask for proof of marriage and proof of identity, at some stage.

They need to be notified that there is no surviving spouse or dependent children.

However, your friend should also ask (just on the off-chance) if there was anything in the pension connected to funeral expenses cover or any special payouts if the death was particularly premature (less than 15 years since retirement).

[factor-fiction]

I agree with the answers about the pension. If he had nominated the spouse only she would get the benefits of any widow's pension.
As far as the funeral costs are concerned , was there any estate? If not, I don't think there was any obligation on the daughter to pay the costs, although I can understand why she'd want a good funeral. Anyway, there may have been options for getting support with the funeral costs. I think the state does provide a basic funeral. I'm not sure whether any funeral grant from DWP is available but it may be worth investigating although it's probably too late now

[Graham-W]

With my company pension scheme, if I live for less than 5 years after retirement, a proportion of the money in my scheme gets paid into my estate ( if there is no spouse to receive my pension).
If a spouse is still alive, she gets 50% of my pension until her death.
There is also an amount towards the funeral expenses, payable at the trustees discretion.

[factor-fiction]

The best way forward here is to respond promptly to the request for information, including a copy of the death certificate for the spouse, and include a request for details of help available (if any) with the funeral costs incurred. The chances of getting anything are not great but there is nothing to lose by asking

[EDDIE51]

Thanks people, they know he has died, my friend sent a copy of the death certificate to his bank , also HSBC, but she was unaware of any pension, she just wanted to close his bank account. It is nearly a year now since the death so i do not know why this has taken so long to come out. No estate by the way and there was no life insurance she knew of. She is still paying for the funeral by monthly instalments to the undertaker.

[Peter Pedant]

I never had a claim on any of my parents pensions