state pension based on husband's national insurance contributions....

how does it work to get a state pension based on husband's national insurance contributions. i imagine i am wrong here but just need to check : can you get a standard state pension and a state pension pension based on husband's contributions (and / or how does this work). husband has good pension but no longer living together. thanks in advance.
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  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    The rule to claiming on your husbands NI contributions is that when you wish to claim , you must be pension age and your husband must be in receipt of his State Pension.

    They will look at your husbands Basic State Pension record, and compare your Basic State Pension. If your Basic State Pension is less than 60% of your husbands, your pension can be topped up to 60% of the vlaue of his pension.

    You will also get in full any Additional Pension and Graduated Pension you have in your own right .

    As a married person, you get less than a divorced person would.

    On a married persons 60% pension, you will get at least 40% less BSP than you could achieve maximum as a divorcee, as a divorcee you would almost certainly get 100%.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • searcher30
    searcher30 Posts: 356 Forumite
    CIS wrote:
    The rule to claiming on your husbands NI contributions is that when you wish to claim , you must be pension age and your husband must be in receipt of his State Pension.

    They will look at your husbands Basic State Pension record, and compare your Basic State Pension. If your Basic State Pension is less than 60% of your husbands, your pension can be topped up to 60% of the vlaue of his pension.

    You will also get in full any Additional Pension and Graduated Pension you have in your own right .

    As a married person, you get less than a divorced person would.

    On a married persons 60% pension, you will get at least 40% less BSP than you could achieve maximum as a divorcee, as a divorcee you would almost certainly get 100%.

    Thank you CIS.

    Can you explain the following to me as it is unclear:

    On a married persons 60% pension, you will get at least 40% less BSP than
    you could achieve maximum as a divorcee, as a divorcee you would almost
    certainly get 100%.
    thanks in advance
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    A Married person can have their record topped up , if their own basic pension is less than 60%.

    example
    Wifes Pension £41 , Husbands Pension £82
    Wife can have her pension topped up to 60% of £82 or £49.20

    Wifes Pension £70 , Husbands Pension £80
    Wifes pension is more than 60% of husbands (£48) pension, so she cant get a top up.

    The married woman can only benefiit from her husbands record if her Basic State Pension is less than 60% of that which husband gets, otherwise she can only receive a pension based on her own NI records.


    As a divorcee, a seperate system of calculation is used to determine the wifes state pension
    She is automatically awarded the better of:
    1) Her own NI record only
    2)Her husbands NI record up until the divorce, and her own record after
    3)Her own record before and after the divorce and her husbands during

    example
    2)Wife and husband NI record starts 1970, the get married 1990, divorced 2000

    If the husband had a full record prior to the divorce and the wife had a full record after the divorce
    Husband 1970 -2000 = 30 qualifying years
    Wife 2000 -2006 = 6 qualifying years
    Total record 36 qualifyiung years

    3)Wife and husband NI record starts 1970, the get married 1990, divorced 2000

    If the husband had a full record during the marriage and the wife had a full record after the divorce but no record prior to the marriage
    Husband 1990 -2000 = 10 qualifying years
    Wife 1970 -1990 = 0 qualifying years
    Wife 2000 -2006 = 6 qualifying years
    Total record 16 qualifying years

    As can be seen , the third option above, gives a lower record then the second option, but in both cases the wife has a better pension than she would get on her own record .
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    If a husband has a full basic state pension of £82 and the wife has less than 60% of this (£49) then her pension will be topped up to £49.
    The minimum pension paid is £21, so the best top-up a woman could get is from £21 to £49, £28 in total.

    If a woman on the minimum state pension divorces, and her husband had a full state penson of £82,then she get topped up from £21 to £82 a week, £61.
    This applies to any amount in between, as long as the 'Substitution ' applied to her record by using his gives a better amount than just using her record.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • isasmurf
    isasmurf Posts: 1,999
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    Sorry to butt into this thread. I have a friend who would be interested in this thread. Thanks for starting it searcher30.

    Can I add another scenario? What if the wife does not have her own NI record before or after the divorce. Would it make any difference is she was divorced or remained married, but separated? (apologies if you've already answered this, but I've not understood.)

    And how would pension credit work if a married couple were separated. It's usually based on the couples income, but what if they were living apart? Would it still be the couples income, or could the wife claim based on her own household income and ignore her husband's household income.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    IIRC, the 1st condition for the state pension is considered met , if the husband met the conditions.
    The 1st condition, is that the person must have a minimum of 1 paid yr year of NI contributions on record.

    As long as he met the condition then she would be deemed to have met it, and the calculation would be carried out as shown above, but just using 0 for her years of contributions and his actual contributions in the same way as normal.

    If the resultant figure was over 26% minimum (25% if the woman needs 44yrs for a full pension), then the pension would be paid, otherwise nothing would be paid.

    Note that the woman cannot use any HRP on her record for the period of substitution

    If she had no record of her own or less than the 25% figure, then as a married woman she could not claim a top-up on her husbands record, she must have some basic pension being paid in her own right to receive any increase.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    Iam not sure about the pension credit, not my area Iam afraid.

    Best bet would be to contact a local pension centre adn ask to speak to the the pension credit section.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • searcher30
    searcher30 Posts: 356 Forumite
    Thank you ever so much CIS.
    I hope I can return the favour to you one day.
    Thank you also isasmurf. I hope it helps you too in their research (glad it benefits someone else too).

    question for CIS: as not that great at maths though trying to improve (!)
    can i ask what mum could get if she was divorced from husband?

    got married in 1997 still not divorced in 2006 (marriage lasted a few hours as abandoned her) though this is considered so far that they have been married for 9 years officially. her husbands pension is £180 per week on state pension, hers is £63.19 basic state pension, employers or personal pension £19.92 and with graduated retirement £2.96. so approxitemely £20 odd per week compared to his £180 basic state pension (though i dont know if I should have included her personal pension in this calculation) could she be entitled to any more based on your calculations? thanks in advance.
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260
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    He has 100% state pension, so as they're not yet divorced and he's reached pension age already. I can say with 99.9% certainty that she would get 100% pension as a divorcee.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • searcher30
    searcher30 Posts: 356 Forumite
    CIS wrote:
    He has 100% state pension, so as they're not yet divorced and he's reached pension age already. I can say with 99.9% certainty that she would get 100% pension as a divorcee.

    thanks CIS. could you clarify what 100% pension means exactly for her. what
    sort of figure are you actually talking about? sorry if a bit slow at
    understanding!!
    he is married to her but gives her nothing and never did . i know that he
    got in one of his pensions an additional £200 for her but never get it to
    her.
    do you know anything about legality etc on this? thanks in advance for all
    of your help
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