Expression of Wish Form - Final Salary Pension

pimento

Hi,

I'm in a final salary pension and have been asked to complete an Expression of Wish form to indicate where my death benefit will go if I should die.

I'm married and have an 18 year old son who is (hopefully) about to start university.

I thought that as I was married, my pension benefit would automatically go to my husband, but our pension advisor at work has said that if I want to I can assign it anywhere I like (at the discretion of the trustees), so it has made me think a bit.

I was thinking of assigning 70% to my spouse and 30% to my son but is there anything I should think about before I do this?

We're talking a lump sum of 3 x my salary plus a pension so it's quite a lot of money.

Your advice/experiences would be helpful.

Thanks

dunstonh

Is there any potential issues with inheritance tax on second death (death of your wife after you)?

pimento

My husband (I'm a woman) has no income and my estate will almost certainly be below the Inheritance Tax threshold (is that £600k at the moment).

Is that what you mean?

dunstonh

In which case there is unlikely to be any financial benefit of naming the child. You would just be creating extra work as a trust would have to be set up for the child with the money and it could leave your spouse short.

Stargazer57

I thought that as I was married, my pension benefit would automatically go to my husband

Just to be clear your expression of wish form only affects the lump sum death benefit. Pensions are paid to dependants only based on the formula and duration set down in the rules of the scheme.

I agree with dunstonh that leaving money to your son is an unnecessary complication.

pimento

I was wondering what would happen if husband married again and his second wife already had children of her own. What implications would that have for our son?

I can't imagine my husband being pro-active enough to write a new will after I die.


God, this is cheerful, isn't it? LOL

pimento

Also, if it's a cash lump sum, why would it have to go into trust for my son (who is an adult)?

You've probably guessed I don't know a lot about pensions...

McKneff

pimento wrote: »

I was wondering what would happen if husband married again and his second wife already had children of her own. What implications would that have for our son?

I can't imagine my husband being pro-active enough to write a new will after I die.


God, this is cheerful, isn't it? LOL

Just for this reason I have told my OH he can have any woman live with him after Ive gone but I'll haunt him if he marries again.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Valli

and bear in mind an expression of wish document is NOT legally binding...

Annie - I'll have him - it'll be fun being haunted by you!

McKneff

Hi Valli,

You'd like him, Ive had him for 42 years,(I was a child bride lol) so he's a bit past it, mind you that makes me past it too I suppose.
Hope youre well.

david39

Expression of wish forms apply to the death in service benefits and not your final pension provisions.
One of the reasons why this is given is, unlike a cash benefit from your pension, it does not form part of your estate and is therefore able to be paid out to the beneficiaries almost immediately.
There are many reasons why beneficiaries may urgently need money upon the death of a wage earner and if they had to wait for a will to pass through probate and, possibly be contested, then they could be waiting for several months or even years.
It is true that the administrators for the benefit do not have to comply with your wishes but there would have to be overwhelmingly compelling reasons why they would not. It remains a discretionary matter on their behalf however.