how much do married couples get????

Transactionumber

My mum & Dad are both retireing this year and they were wondering how much pension they will receive many thanks for any responses!!!

[Deleted User]

They can get a pension forecast from here

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/atoz/atozdetailed/rpforecast.asp

dunstonh

kittie is spot on with the best way to find out.

For information, they only get state pension benefits when they reach their respective state pension ages. If your dad was retiring at age 63, he would have to wait until 65 before he gets any state pension benefit.

Transactionumber

My mum will be 60 and my dad 65 in the same month so they will be receiving state pensions, just wondered how much they are entitled to ie joint or married couple. I have had a look at the web site above many thanks but to me it does not make things very clear it doesn't show married couples or has it changed or are the pensions being just as difficult and confusing as possible or am I just dim which I hope not but ya never know Many thanks

margaretclare

Hi leachy

It depends. Has your Mum paid national insurance contributions for herself, or did she get Child Benefit which can bring with it Home Responsibilities Protection. This means that she's treated as if she paid NI contributions while getting the Child Benefit - but only if she'd previously been paying full contributions. The former 'married women's stamp' which ceased for new people in April 1978, was one of the biggest cons ever seen. Your Mum was born in 1945 - what year did they get married?

If she's hoping to claim state retirement pension from your Dad's contributions then (I think) he gets 100%, she gets 60% of whatever it is at the time. Look at this - rates showing from April:

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2005/dec/ben_rates.pdf

We are a married couple, but we both get state retirement pension in our own right i.e. we both get the full rates based on our own contributions. I don't get mine via his.

Thank God I paid full stamp all those years!!

Aunty Margaret

CIS

If she's got HRP, unless shes paid enough NI contributions she wont get a pension in her own right. If she paid married womans NI for any length of time then its unlikely that she will have enough pension in her own right.

Margaretclare is right about the 60%. Even if your mum hasn't got any record in her own right , she can claim 60% of the value of her husbands basic state pension ,to be paid to her. This will not effect the value of your dads pension.

If she has any basic pension in her own right , then if this is less than 60% of your dads pension, she will get her pension topped up the 60% mark. She will also get any graduated or additional pension that she has in her own right on top of any top-up she gets.

margaretclare

CIS wrote:

If she's got HRP, unless shes paid enough NI contributions she wont get a pension in her own right. If she paid married womans NI for any length of time then its unlikely that she will have enough pension in her own right.

Margaretclare is right about the 60%. Even if your mum hasn't got any record in her own right , she can claim 60% of the value of her husbands basic state pension ,to be paid to her. This will not effect the value of your dads pension.

If she has any basic pension in her own right , then if this is less than 60% of your dad's pension, she will get her pension topped up the 60% mark. She will also get any graduated or additional pension that she has in her own right on top of any top-up she gets.

So to answer the original question, and to make it crystal-clear, a 'married couple's retirement pension' is 160% i.e. he gets 100% and she gets 60%.

We get 100% each, but I understand only 14% of women get this in their own right, and I'm one of those.

Aunty Margaret

Transactionumber

Thank you all very much for the great responses all have been of help especially margaretclare many thanks again Leachy :T