Nominating a beneficiary for a payment

starlight_xx

Im not sure if I should have posted this elsewhere so please do point me in the right direction if I havent

I got my annual pension statement in today and was quite shocked at how much the 'death in service' payment is.

Between that and another policy my work has and my own life insurance its now a 6 figure sum.

I have 2 nieces and Id like them to get this money should the worst happen. What is the best way to ensure this happens. I have a good relationship with my brother and have no reason to think that if I made him beneficiary that hed give it to my nieces as I requested. However whats the best way to do it legally. If I make a will should I have my brother as beneficiary with the will specifying that the money is split 50/50 between the girls??

RichandJ

DISBs associated with pension schemes are generally written under Trust. This means the Trustees have discretion over who gets the benefit which in turn means they are not part of an Estate and thus not liable for Inheritance Tax.

Trustees can take note of your wishes concerning who you'd like the money to go to but aren't bound by them, otherwise that would lose the tax privileged status above. Usually, if there's no widow involved they would do as requested though.

What you can do is ask the pension administrator or your HR dept for a beneficiary nomination form (sometimes aka an expression of wish), fill it in & return it to be held on your file. Make sure you keep it up to date if your circumstances change.

Loughton_Monkey

For your life assurance, given that it is already in force, it is best to do this under your will. Ask your solicitor, but I don't think the will would mention your brother as 'beneficiary'. Basically, you would leave whatever specified assets to your nieces, and if you want this 'under trust' until they are of an age, your brother could be nominated (I think) as the trustee.