Partner and children's pensions if you die in service

If you die in service, there are annual pensions payable for a qualifying partner and children. These pensions are payable for life and are in addition to the one-off death grant.

If you wish, you can tell us about anyone that may be entitled to your survivor’s pension using My Pension Online, but you don’t have to.

We will always ask for evidence and relevant official documents before paying out any survivor or children’s pensions.

Unlike the death grant, you can’t choose who you want to receive a survivor’s pension. It can only be paid to:

• a married partner
• a civil partner
• an eligible cohabiting partner

Even if you are separated from a married or civil partner or living with someone else at the time of death, unless you are divorced or have had the civil partnership dissolved, under the regulations, your former partner will receive the survivor’s pension.

For a cohabiting partner to receive a survivor’s pension, you and your partner must have, for a period of at least two years before you die:

• been free to marry or form a civil partnership
• lived together as a married couple or in a civil partnership
• have not been living with anyone else as if married, or in a civil partnership
• been financially dependent on each other, or your partner was financially dependent on you

We will request evidence to ensure the criteria is met. This evidence could consist of joint bank account statements, utility bills, mortgage, lease or tenancy agreements.

However, it’s important to understand that we don’t have an exact list of documents we require, only that whatever is presented is enough to meet the criteria. It is up to your partner to arrange and supply this evidence. Once we have this, we will decide if we need further evidence or if the criteria is met.

Membership used in the calculation of a cohabiting partner’s pension will only be for benefits built up after 6 April 1988, unless you made an election to pay additional contributions before 1 April 2014 to ensure earlier membership was included.

Pension built up before and after 1 April 2014 is calculated differently. This is the same for calculating a survivor’s pension.

For pension that you built up after 1 April 2014, the survivor’s pension is calculated as:

1/160th of the pensionable pay received for each year of service
Plus a proportion of any transfers in after 1 April 2014

Find more information about how your pension is calculated after 1 April 2014.

For pension that you built up before 1 April 2014, the surviving partner’s pension is calculated as:

1/160th of your final pay x membership

Any membership transferred in before 1 April 2014 will count towards the membership calculation.

For more information about how pension is calculated before 1 April 2014.

An estimate of the survivors’ pension is shown on your annual benefit statement. You can also get an estimate using My Pension Online

The way you can pay extra towards your benefits has changed over the years and some extra pension payments will not count towards the calculation of survivor’s pensions.

• extra pension purchased by paying towards an APC (Additional Pension Contributions) or a SCAPC (Shared Cost Additional Pension Contributions) will not count towards the calculation of survivor’s pension benefits
• there are no survivor’s pensions payable for ARCs (Additional Regular Contributions) paid before 1 April 2014, unless you specifically paid extra to provide them
• any membership purchased through LGPS added years (before 1 April 2008) will be included in the calculation of children’s pensions but will only be included for surviving partner’s pensions if you were married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership with them while you were still contributing

If you paid into the LGPS between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997 you will have a protection included in your benefits known as a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP).

You may also have a GMP if you transferred in service from another scheme in which you had a GMP. If you have GMP protection, then a surviving widow is entitled to receive this protection in the calculation of a surviving partner’s pension.

Widowers and civil partners will only receive GMP protection in the calculation of pension benefits built-up between 6 April 1988 and 5 April 1997.

There are also pensions payable to children who are:

• under age 18
• between 18 and 23 and in full-time education
• suffering from a mental or physical impairment that stops them from taking up a job working at least 30 hours a week for a period of at least 1 year

Additionally, to be eligible to receive the child’s pension, your child must be:

• a natural child, born within 12 months of your death
• an adopted child, born before your death
• a stepchild or a child dependent on you at the date of your death and accepted by you as a member of the family (excluding sponsored children through a registered charity)

To award a child’s pension we require evidence that:

• children between 18 and 23 are in full time education
• the criteria for physical or mental impairment has been met if this is the basis for the application
• you are related to the children, or they are dependent on you at the date of death

There is no set criteria for the evidence you should supply to demonstrate dependence, but we will be unable to award a child’s pension where evidence is insufficient.

This evidence will need to be supplied by the child’s guardian or surviving parent where the child is under 18.

The amount a child receives depends on how many eligible children you have and if a surviving partner’s pension is also being paid.

If there is no surviving partner’s pension being paid, a child’s pension is worked out based on 1/240th of your pensionable pay. For two or more children it is based on 1/120th of your pensionable pay.

If there is a surviving partner’s pension being paid, one child’s pension is worked out based on 1/320th of your pensionable pay. For two or more children, it is based on 1/160th of your pensionable pay.

There are important things you should know about pensions for your dependants:

• pensions for dependants are counted as earned income and therefore subject to income tax
• if the value of a surviving partner’s pension pot is under £30,000, they may be able to give up their LGPS pension rights in exchange for a one-off lump sum payment. This is called trivial commutation
• at the moment dependants cannot use My Pensions Online to check the value of their pension. Printed payslips will be provided in line with our policy. More information about receiving a pension from us can be found here: Receiving a pension
• if you have more than one LGPS pension account, dependant’s pensions will be payable in respect of each. However, if you have a deferred pension which you stopped paying into before 1 April 2008, a cohabiting partner would not be entitled to receive the survivor’s pension.

Children eligible to receive a pension are:

• a natural child, born within 12 months of your death
• an adopted child, born before your death
• a stepchild or a child dependent on you at the date of your death and accepted by you as a member of the family (excluding sponsored children through a registered charity)

We will request evidence to prove the child’s relationship to you and their dependence on you at the date of death. There are no set criteria for what this evidence will be. This evidence will need to be supplied by the child’s guardian or surviving parent. We will be unable to award a child’s pension where the evidence is insufficient.

The way you can pay extra towards your benefits has changed over the years and some extra pension payments will not count towards the calculation of survivor’s pensions. Extra pension purchased by paying towards an Additional Pension Contributions (APC) plan or a SCAPC (Shared Cost Additional Pension Contributions) will not count towards the calculation of survivor’s pension benefits.

There are no survivor’s pensions payable for Additional Regular Contributions (ARCs) paid before 1 April 2014, unless you specifically paid extra to provide them. Any membership purchased through LGPS added years (before 1 April 2008) will be included in the calculation of children’s pensions but will only be included for surviving partner’s pensions if you were married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership with them while you were still paying in.

If you were contracted out between 6 April 1978 and 6 April 1997, you will have a protection included in your deferred benefits known as a Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP). GMP rules are complicated, but generally this protection works to ensure your deferred benefits cannot be less at GMP age (60 for a woman, 65 for a man) than what you would have received had you contributed to the (now defunct) State Second Pension. This amount does not appear separately on any pension statement, and it will only be included in your pension benefits:

i) when you start to receive them and

ii) when you reach GMP age

If you have GMP protection, a surviving widow is entitled to receive this protection in the calculation of a surviving partner’s pension. Widowers and civil partners will only receive GMP protection in the calculation of pension benefits built-up between 6 April 1988 and 6 April 1997.

If the value of a survivor’s pension pot is under £30,000, they may be able to give up their LGPS pension rights in exchange for a one-off lump sum payment. This is called a trivial commutation. If your survivors are eligible for this option, we can supply an estimate upon request.

Survivor’s pensions are counted as earned income and will therefore be subject to any income tax payable. Death grants not paid within two years will be paid to your estate and subject to any tax payable in accordance with the law including inheritance tax and lifetime allowance charges.

If you have questions about tax payable on your estate when you die, you should consult a solicitor.