Spouse's state pension on death-is spouse eligible for %, or not?

www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1294680/State-Pension-rules-do-I-get-husbands-State-Pension-death-widow

My husband died in 2009 and I remember him insisting that I rang the DWP. to tell them he was dying and he asked that they checked his records because he had paid SERFS or whatever. I was so overcome with grief but as he was born in 1937, I inherited a lot of his pension and my pension rose significantly. I have never looked up all the detailks. The DWP pass the information to my work pension dept so I am taxed. I am just grateful. It seems mean that if you were born after a certain date you get less or nothing.

Macgran43. Your daughter will only receive 50% of any protected payments. See the first link I posted.

FranP. That only applies to women who reached state pension age before 6 April 2016.

4allweknow. The amount you can inherit will depend on your own pensionable age. If you were born on or before 5 April 1953 you will come under the old scheme. If you were born after that you will come under the new scheme. Again, check the links I posted above.

The old scheme was much more generous in terms of inheritance but women reaching pension age from 6 April 2016 onwards get a higher rate of pension depending on how many contribution years they have paid for or been credited with.

Yes, if your spouse was contracted out of SERPS, any enhancement to state pension will be less but in theory any inherited occupational pension will be equal or better. The link karmalady provided is useful. Here it is again:

www.lcp.com/media/1150050/why-is-money-being-deducted-from-my-state-pension.pdf

Again, I stress, I am not an expert. Just going by what I read on the law firm's links and on the gov.uk pages.

DH died 2022 just after his 76th birthday. I did receive an increase in my SP but noing like 50 or 100%. Wonder if the deceased being contracted out of SERP whilst in work makes a difference to how much of an increase is awarded to widow/er.

Your daughter is right.

If hubby had a full state pension and you are not (due to reduced contributions) you can definitely claim against HIS contributions as if they are your own.
(Don't know anything about SERPS

My husband died aged 79. I received an extra £500 a month on to my reduced state pension as I had paid small stamp for some years. My son in law died before receiving SP and my daughter doesn't think she'll get any of his SP at all in 6years time when he would have turned 66

chrissie13. I’m sorry for your loss.

As your husband was born in 1953, he would have come under the new 2016 pension provisions. (This adds more confusion because of the gradual equalisation of male and female pension age. Some women born in 1953 fall into the old system. some into the new one. All men born in 1953 fall into the new one.)

Look at the rate of his own pension. If he was getting more than the basic rate of £203.85 then the excess is known as a protected payment. You would receive half of that. I’m not an expert but that’s my understanding from the last section of the first link I posted.

Ikiesgranma. That is sad to hear. What does your pension forecast say? If you have earned more than the basic rate of pension then the excess will be a protected payment and your husband will be entitled to half of that, same as I have said to chrissie13.

It probably depends on which pension scheme he was in . Both myself and my husband were in the NHS pension scheme.he died at 57 and I receive half of the pension he would have got . The only thing is , if I get married again or have a live in partner then I have to declare it and then lose his pension. I get to keep my pension whatever.

I am just 64 and should get my state pension when I’m 66. I’ve been told that I don’t have long to live so it’s unlikely that I will get to draw it. I’m frustrated that it won’t be available even in part for my husband. I feel that once you get a terminal diagnosis you should be able to start claiming SP after all I’ve paid into it and I’m due to get a full pension.

Tinsoldier, thank you

Chrissie, I am so sorry for your loss

re serps paid by my husband. He died 2 years after retiring and his guaranteed annuity from serps was £ 2302 pa. The guarantee was for 5 years so that amount was paid to me for three years. At the end of the gusrantee period, that amount became £1151 pa ie halved.

Re my state pension. I now get the old pension of £156.2 a week plus additional £107 pw. Some was pre 1997, some post 1997 and a small amount of graduated retirement benefit.

I see that contracted out deduction for me is about equal to the contracted out annuity, so really it was a waste of time, effort and money to have done it in the first place

I found some very detailed and useful information
www.lcp.com/media/1150050/why-is-money-being-deducted-from-my-state-pension.pdf

I am going to put my paperwork back into its box, it is what it is

My husband died last month, and I have recently had a letter stating the extra pension I will be receiving, £16 a week. It is very very complicated, I have read the explanatory letter numerous times and still don't understand it fully. I am on the old pension and from what I can gather if I was on the new one I wouldn't have got anything extra. You apparently can't inherit any of the spouse's basic pension, only a percentage of their additional pension, depending on the date of birth of the spouse and the year they reached pension age. As he was born in 1953 I can only inherit up to 50% of this, which must be the £16, who knows! All I do know is that I would still be getting more on the new pension than I am now, even with the extra.

These two pages from law firm Lane, Clark and Peacock contain some of the clearest explanations that I have seen to explain the old and new state pension systems as they affect widows:

The new state pension and the position for women who reached state pension age after 5 April 2016:

www.lcp.com/the-new-state-pension-and-the-position-of-widows-and-widowers

The old state pension and the position for women who reached state pension age before 6th April 2016:

www.lcp.com/widows-pensions-are-you-being-paid-the-right-amount

If you were born on or before 5 April 1953 you come under the old pension provisions:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f02e640f0b62305b84929/spa-timetable.pdf

Additional information from moneysavingexpert for certain specific categories of women who may not have received pension payments they are entitled to:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/married-women-missing-state-pension-boost/

If you think you have been underpaid, the address to write to quoting your own and your spouse's or civil partner's national insurance number is:

The Pension Service
Post Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1AF

Note new provisions apply to widowers too but qualifying dates differ so check the linked text for those.

The more complicated pensions are made, the easier it is for 'mistakes' to be made.

Is this of any use to those looking for help?

1Summer, I'm in a similar situation,DH passed away in 2022 aged 72. I thought I would get a pension increase, wrote and enquired but was told not entitled. I queried this but did not get a response despite sending by recorded mail. Did not seem correct to me as I know others in what seem to be similar situations who receive substantial increases.

Having checked I appear to get the full amount of state pension that DH did plus I get 100% of his work's pension and I inherited his private pension. I am better off now than we ever were when working. He died in 2021 aged 76 and had worked for 49 years.

I seem to remember being told years ago that I was unlikely to receive any of my husband's state pension as I have always paid the full stamp. I married after April 1977 when the married woman's stamp was abolished. My state pension is higher than his as he was contracted out for all his working life but his occupational pension is very good.

My husband died in 2020, aged 65. I was told I wouldn’t get any of his State pension because he hadn’t reached the pension age of 66.

I have just checked my state pension which is very good in comparison.I have my own full pension on top of that I have 2 amounts showing, pre 97 and post 97, which I suppose must be from my husbands pension, I never thought about it. He died in 2014, was borne in 1928. My total pension is over £ 300, so better than some. I was borne in 1944 and we were married in 67. As you all agree it is extremely complicated, but brilliant to bring it up here. Well done.

My husband died young. He paid graduated NI contributions and then SERPS until age 28 when he joined a company which has a very good pension scheme so opted out of SERPS.

I reached SP age in 2021. I worked and paid full NIC for over 35 years so I receive full SP in my own right, but I also get a small amount of inherited pension based on his graduated contributions and SERPS.

The inherited pension would, of course, have been greater has he remained in SERPS (and the second pension scheme which superceded that) but by opting out, he enhanced his occupational pension of which I inherited 50%.

Without going back through ancient records, I can't say how much his occupational pension was enhanced by the SERPs opt-out but I know I have been better off financially for him having done this. I have had my occupational widows pension for going on 20 years whereas I only received the inherited SP from age 66.

The state pension awarding system is very confusing. My DH died in 2011 aged 59 but I don’t get any of his state pension. I was led to believe that this is because I have a full SP in my own right, but who knows?

It is a real mess and so hard to know if what you get is right or not.

The whole thing about SP, pension credit etc is very confusing. I am in receipt of some PC but afraid to use it in case it has been given incorrectly. Especially as when awarded it I had three letters in quick sucession awarding me different amounts each time!!! Even after finally speaking to someone at DWP I am still worried.🤔🤔🙈🙈