After conducting some research on the Government, one woman wondered if she would be able to inherit her partner’s state pension.
The 69-year-old woman has been living with her partner for 30 years and has already started collecting her own state pension.
As her husband turned 65, she wondered whether she could inherit his state pension once he passed away as they are not married.
She wanted to know if she needed to enter into a civil partnership as a way to qualify for the extra cash when her partner passed away.
Conscious she would never receive the state pension her husband saved for, the woman wrote into This is Money to explain her situation.
She said: “My partner is 65 and not yet claiming his pension, which will be available from December 2024.
“In the event of anything happening to either of us, regarding claiming part of a deceased person’s state pension, could you please advise if we need to enter a civil partnership or would evidence of our living together for over 30 years suffice?
“I have tried to find information from the Gov.UK website but it is a minefield. I am not sure if we have to enter into a civil partnership before my partner retires or after.”
Steve Webb, pensions expert and partner at LCP explained the short answer to her question is no.
As a general principle, the state pension system divides the world into two groups – those who are married (or in a civil partnership) and those who are not.
Despite the many years they have been living together, in the eyes of the law, the lady and her partner are “single”.
Mr Webb said: “For someone to derive state pension rights from their partner, they would need to have been married or in a civil partnership. (For brevity I will simply refer to ‘being married’ from now on, but this should be read as including civil partnerships).
“For example, where both parties come under the ‘old’ (pre-April 2016) state pension system, being married is the key to being able to benefit from the National Insurance record of your partner following their death.
“However, I see that both you and your partner come under the new state pension system. Even if you had been married for a long time, the ability to inherit when one partner dies is substantially reduced in the new state pension system.
People may be able to inherit an extra payment on top of their pension if they’re widowed. However, they won’t inherit anything if they remarry or form a new civil partnership before they reach State Pension Age.
Additional State Pension
If the marriage or civil partnership began before April 6, 2016, and one of the following circumstances applies, then people may be able to inherit part of their deceased spouse’s additional State Pension.
- Their spouse reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016.
- Their spouse died before April 6, 2016, but would have reached the pension age on or before this date.
Protected payment
People can inherit half of their deceased partner’s protected payment if their marriage or civil partnership with them began before April 6, 2016, and:
- Their State Pension age is on or before April 6, 2016.
- They died on or before April 6, 2016.
Extra State Pension or lump sum
People might be able to inherit part of or all of their spouse’s extra pension or lump sum if:
- Their partner died while they were deferring their pension or had started claiming it after deferring it.
- They reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016.
- They were married or in a civil partnership when they died.
The rules on whether people can inherit their partner’s pension and the amount they can inherit are “complicated and complex”. The best thing people can do is to contact the Pension Service for appropriate guidance and information.
