If you have left employment with deferred benefits and die before receiving them, the survivor benefits payable depend upon whether you left employment with a right to deferred benefits before or after 1 April 2008.
A Surviving Spouse’s Pension
Regardless of when you left, a pension will be paid to your surviving widow or widower as follows:
- Widow
1/160 x your final pay x the membership the deferred pension is based on.
If you have married after leaving the employment, a surviving widow’s pension is based on membership after 5 April 1978.
- Widower
1/160 x your final pay x the membership the deferred pension is based on.
If you have married after leaving the employment, a surviving widower’s pension is based on membership after 5 April 1988.
- Surviving Registered Civil Partner
If you are survived by a registered Civil Partner, the amount of survivor’s benefit payable depends on when you left the employment.
If you left on or before 31 March 2008
Your surviving registered civil partner’s pension will be calculated as follows:
1/160 x your final pay x your membership from 6 April 1978 to date of leaving
If you left on or after 1 April 2008
Your surviving registered partner’s pension will be calculated as follows:
1/160th x your final pay x the membership the deferred pension is based on.
If you have registered after leaving the employment, the surviving registered civil partner’s pension is based on membership after 5 April 1978.
Surviving Cohabiting Partner
If you are survived by a cohabiting partner, the amount of survivor’s benefit payable depends on when you left the employment.
- If you left on or before 31 March 2008
Your co-habiting partner is not eligible to receive a survivor’s pension.
- If you left on or after 1 April 2008
A survivor’s pension will be paid provided your partner meets the eligibility criteria .
Qualifying conditions for a Co-habiting Partner
A survivor’s pension is paid to a Co-habiting partner provided all of the following conditions have applied for a continuous period of at least 2 years before your death:
- You both are, and have been, free to marry each other or form a civil partnership with each other
- You are living together as if you are husband and wife, or civil partners
- Neither of you is living with someone else as if they were husband and wife or civil partners
- Either your cohabiting partner is financially dependent on you or you are financially interdependent on each other.
Your partner is financially dependent on you if you have the highest income. Financially interdependent means that you rely on your joint finances to support your standard of living. It doesn’t mean that you need to be contributing equally. For example, if your partner’s income is a lot more than yours, he or she may pay the mortgage and most of the bills and you may pay for the weekly shopping. Please note, the amount payable to your cohabiting partner will be less than that payable to a spouse or registered civil partner if you have elected not to pay additional contributions in respect of any membership before 6 April 1988
The pension will be calculated as follows:
1/160 x your final pay x membership from 6 April 1988 to date of leaving (plus any membership before 6 April 1988 that you opted to pay additional contributions for)
