pension problem (early death)

margaretclare

sharewatcher wrote:

He was the person looking after the children,and holding down a full time job, I agree totally with the "make a will now" post as he worked the Friday,got up on the Monday to go to work, lay back down for 10 mins and passed away, It was found at the autopsy he had an undiagnosed heart problem

I sympathise - oh, do I ever.

My daughter died 3 years ago aged just 39. She had migraines and high blood pressure, reason unexplained - no one made the connection. She died within 5 minutes, collapsed on to her kitchen floor and in spite of her husband's efforts and several paramedics including a doctor, she died. At postmortem the main cause of death was found to be coarctation of the aorta, which obviously she'd had since birth - the cause of the migraines and the high blood pressure if anyone had 'thought outside the box'!

She too hadn't changed her will since she got married. Luckily there were no children involved, and everything, including her local authority pension and her private pension with life assurance, went to her husband. She'd only been in that County Council job for 6 weeks but was in the pension scheme from day one.

My DH and I have made wills, and we've included our wishes for our funeral as well. Too often I've known of people die and no one knew what their wishes were, whether they wanted burial or cremation, service or no service, flowers or no flowers. Spell it all out then there's no mistake and more importantly, it's easier for your nearest and dearest to carry out known wishes than to worry about 'what he/she would have wanted'.

Margaret Clare

sharewatcher

You have my deepest sympathy Margaret, and I thank you for your kind words

montycat_2

Hi,
My husband was killed in an accident at home and we didn't have a will.I was very lucky in that all his policies etc were transferred to me but ,now I am the only surviving parent I do have a will.My children are all under 10 so ,gaurdianship is an imperative .
Have the children looked into probate yet ?I managed to avoid it but they may require it .
It is a long process-I am 9 months down the road and ,still dealing with alot of the financial aspects .Don't expect any quick decisions either .

sharewatcher

Deepest sympathies montycat

As his estate was not that large and the banks are cooperating probate is not necessary, I was informed on this forum that his pension will not be counted towards his estate and will be (worst case scenario) dealt with by trustees.
I would like to thank everyone who helped with my post as it cleared a few financial clouds, I think the kids will be ok (financially) for the next few years so keep up the good work in the knowledge that your support helped during a difficult time