death in service payment.

peterm54_2

Sadly my daughter recently passed away and payed into a NHS pension.She was single with no children and her mum and myself were her next of kin and unfortunately she never got around to nominating us for death in service payment.
My question is the payment that we will eventually receive after we have applied for probate will have to be used to pay her debts.

Many thanks

bendix

If she hadn't nominated you, then any death in service benefit will go to her estate. The executor of her estate - whoever that is - will need to take care of her debts and then the balance will be passed to any beneficiaries.

Did she have a will?

Andy_L

Sorry for your loss.

Unfortunatly, as your daughter did not fill in the nomination paperwork, the lump sum forms part of her estate. As such it will be used to pay off any debts before you inherit what is left in the estate.
Had she filled in the nomination you would have received it direct & it would not have been used to pay any of her debts as her debts would have died with her.

McKneff

Andy_L wrote: »

Sorry for your loss.

Unfortunatly, as your daughter did not fill in the nomination paperwork, the lump sum forms part of her estate. As such it will be used to pay off any debts before you inherit what is left in the estate.
Had she filled in the nomination you would have received it direct & it would not have been used to pay any of her debts as her debts would have died with her.

A little wrong here Andy l. Debts do not die with you unless there is nothing in the estate to pay them.

If there are other assetts, house, car, savings etc. Funeral costs would be paid first,/priority debts lthen any other debts,

SandC

I would speak to her employers. I'm not sure the advice given here is correct. We had someone pass away whilst still in service and his nomination form was many years out of date - the nominee had long since passed away themselves. The insurance company were happy to pay out the sum equally to his three remaining closest next of kin and this did not form part of the estate.

I'm not saying this isn't the case for your daughter but it's probably a final salary scheme with trustees who will have discretion as to who it is paid to. But again perhaps the absence of the expression of wishes makes all the difference, rather than one that was out of date.

bendix

SandC wrote: »

But again perhaps the absence of the expression of wishes makes all the difference, rather than one that was out of date.

Bingo. I'm afraid.

It's not our role here to second guess the OP's daughter's wishes.

michelle1506

I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about your daughter x

david39

I think both McKneff and Andy are each partly correct and partly incorrect.

It is true that your debts do not die with you if there is an estate with assets in it from which they can be paid.

However, Death In Service payment is NOT part of the money that forms your pension or estate. It is a separate payment and the payment is made to nominated person(s) and is intended to cover immediate out of pocket expenses that may be caused by the person's death. These could include immediate catastrophic drop in household income, bringing home a body from abroad, funeral expenses etc. Remember that any capital belonging to the deceased will be frozen until the will is executed, which could be many months in extreme cases - the DiS payment is meant to compensate or cover for this.

As the money is paid to a third party, under normal circumstances, debtors of the deceased cannot claim it.

peterm54_2

many thanks for replies
will go and see a solicitor
one thing she always said was if anything happens to me you both will receive my death in service payment.

McKneff

peterm54 wrote: »

many thanks for replies
will go and see a solicitor
one thing she always said was if anything happens to me you both will receive my death in service payment.

Most solicitors will giveyou a half hour free session.

RichandJ

Looks like the DISB has to be paid to 'spouse, civil or qualifying partner'. Extract below from the NHS booklet, which can be found at the link at the bottom of this post:

"Life insurance & family benefits
The Scheme provides lump sum and pension benefits to your dependants in the event of your death. The benefits payable will depend on your circumstances at the time of your death.
Payment of lump sum
The lump sum will be paid to your spouse, registered civil partner or qualifying partner. If you
do not want this to happen you should contact NHS Pensions to nominate someone else to
receive the benefit. A form to nominate who you want to receive this benefit can be downloaded
from our website www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pensions You should note that the lump sum may be
subject to inheritance tax if it is not paid to your spouse, registered civil partner or qualifying
partner.
If you have not nominated a person to receive a lump sum and you do not have a spouse,
registered civil partner or qualifying partner the lump sum will be paid to your estate."

http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Pensions/Documents/Pensions/SD_Guide_V3_-_06.2009.pdf