State pension and spouse

Clive1947

I am due to get my government pension next April, my wife who is 60 now, won't be eligible to claim in her own right till next November, due to pension age changes.

Will I be able to claim for her when I retire or will I just get mine and have to wait till November for the married couples allowance.

p.s. I have worked all my life so should be entitled to everything I can get.

bilbo51

Has your wife worked all or part of her life?

Clive1947

Part, but only part time and maybe only for about 8 years.

patanne

Please suggest she applies for a pension forecast NOW! This will give you both some idea of what you are facing. If she paid full stamp before having children she may be entitled to credits for several years. If you check now there is always a possibility that you can buy her some of her missing years. I recommend that you don't wait as they do put up the costs of buying years occasionally

bilbo51

Clive1947 wrote: »

Part, but only part time and maybe only for about 8 years.

Then she can receive a basic state retirement pension of 60% of your entitlement based on your contribution record. She can claim this when you reach your State Pension Age. The full basic state pension for 2011/12 is £102.15 per week, so if you can claim all of this based on your own contributions, she would be able to claim £61.20 per week.

datostar

bilbo51 wrote: »

Then she can receive a basic state retirement pension of 60% of your entitlement based on your contribution record. She can claim this when you reach your State Pension Age. The full basic state pension for 2011/12 is £102.15 per week, so if you can claim all of this based on your own contributions, she would be able to claim £61.20 per week.

Won't she have to wait until she reaches State Pension Age in her own right? If I read the OP correctly he said he will get his SRP next April but his wife will have to wait until November. If not, it appears that a 64 yr old man could marry a 30 yr old who would very quickly start drawing a 60% State Pension!

anmarj

datostar wrote: »

Won't she have to wait until she reaches State Pension Age in her own right? If I read the OP correctly he said he will get his SRP next April but his wife will have to wait until November. If not, it appears that a 64 yr old man could marry a 30 yr old who would very quickly start drawing a 60% State Pension!

you are correct, she has to wait till she is SPA before she can claim it

Clive1947

So I will have to feed my wife on scraps then till next November, just because she was born in 1951 a year after the cut off for increase in pensionable age. Thanks for all your replies, I did eventually find the answer, after a long sessions trolling through the government website.

datostar

Clive1947 wrote: »

So I will have to feed my wife on scraps then till next November, just because she was born in 1951 a year after the cut off for increase in pensionable age. Thanks for all your replies, I did eventually find the answer, after a long sessions trolling through the government website.

BTW, she won't have to claim the increase. My wife is a couple of years older than me and has been drawing SRP for almost 7 years now at a rate of just under 40%. Mine starts this December and I've been assured that the increase to hers will be automatic and that they'll write to her to tell her so as soon as the payment of mine actually starts. I made my claim over the phone and the DWP lady spent quite a lot of time explaining the advantages of deferring the pension. I explained the advantages of the 'bird in the hand' principle and we settled on immediate payment. Probably all the male baby boomers hitting 65 this year and next! They'll also tell you all about pension credit so if you're really going to be on the breadline feeding your wife on scraps you might be able to get some of that too.

anmarj

datostar wrote: »

BTW, she won't have to claim the increase. My wife is a couple of years older than me and has been drawing SRP for almost 7 years now at a rate of just under 40%. Mine starts this December and I've been assured that the increase to hers will be automatic and that they'll write to her to tell her so as soon as the payment of mine actually starts. I made my claim over the phone and the DWP lady spent quite a lot of time explaining the advantages of deferring the pension. I explained the advantages of the 'bird in the hand' principle and we settled on immediate payment. Probably all the male baby boomers hitting 65 this year and next! They'll also tell you all about pension credit so if you're really going to be on the breadline feeding your wife on scraps you might be able to get some of that too.

thats because your wife is already in recepit of state pension so it is automactially applied, if the person is not in recepit of the state pension then it has to be applied for, afterall where would the DWP pay it to?

McKneff

If she is nowhere near getting 60% of her state pension, dont waste your money on buying any credits.

Like the other posters says, just get her to claim on your contributions.

She will be paid separately to you, there is no such thing these days as claiming for 'Married Couples Allowance.

My NI contributions over the years would have got me 50% of a pension, so I just claimed as above and got 60%.

and 'Happy Retirement' to you both.