State Pension and Re-marriage

young_pensioner

Does anyone know if a state pension using a former husband's contributions to top up to the full basic pension, plus an additional amount of serps etc., would be affected if a woman were to get married again?

CIS

The woman would loose the right to use her ex-husbands contribution if she re-married before before state pension age, if she claimed as a divorcee and then after pension age, she remarried, then she would retain her pension as a divorcee.

margaretclare

Hi CIS

I'm aware that you're more knowledgeable than me, but this could have applied to me as a widow (if I hadn't had SRP on my own contributions). I understood that I could have claimed SRP on my late husband's contributions but then when I remarried (after state pension age) I could then have claimed on my present husband's contributions.

It seems that a man's contributions have to do a lot - his own pension, his divorced wife and maybe his new wife!!!

Is this fair?

Margaret Clare

EdInvestor

It seems that a man's contributions have to do a lot - his own pension, his divorced wife and maybe his new wife!!!

Is this fair?

As of 2010, a woman's contributions will do the same job for her partner(s), so seems reasonable to me.:)

CIS

Your right, if you anything (widowhood/divorce) happens after SPA, you get to choose what you want from the pensions options available, keep your own Cat A or choose the Cat B pension or give them up and take on your new husbands.

In most cases taking the Category B widows pension would be teh best option if you dont have a good Cat A pension as it would almost certainly be more than the Cat B married womans pension.

EdInvester is right though, from 2010 sanity prevails and a man can claim off hgis wife the same as she can off him with regards to the 60% rule, but the other rules have already been harmonised.

Its reasonable to equalise it, but then the bext step is to look at whether the rules can be done away with or not.

margaretclare

CIS wrote:

I'ts reasonable to equalise it, but then the bext step is to look at whether the rules can be done away with or not.

I agree with this. I personally feel very strongly that everyone should build up their own pension rights and claim in their own right. I just don't see how one person's contributions i.e. the man's (or even the woman's after 2010) can be made to do so many jobs.

For example, my DH has been married and divorced twice before. In theory, he could have had THREE women claiming state retirement pensions off his contributions, as well as himself!

His first wife married twice after him so presumably she's out of the equation. The second, we're not sure about. I have a good Class A pension from my own contributions, so it doesn't apply. But suppose I'd been claiming SRP on my late husband's contributions, I remarried after retirement - which husband would I have claimed retirement pension against, my late first or my second?

Margaret Clare

EdInvestor

which husband would I have claimed retirement pension against, my late first or my second?

Presumably the one who had the best record and could thus deliver the best pension to you ( and who was already retired himself of course).

margaretclare

EdInvestor wrote:

Presumably the one who had the best record and could thus deliver the best pension to you (and who was already retired himself of course).

Well, my first husband (who died before he had a chance to reach retirement age) had mainly credited contributions given that he hadn't worked from 1976 to his death in 1992.

My present husband had 2 wives before me! So as I said, in theory he could have had 3 wives and himself claiming SRP from his contributions.

Ludicrous!

Margaret Clare