Pensions, Wills and the Terminally Ill

meg00

Thanks xylophone.
We have lost a lot of time waiting for solicitors. I called into office and spoke to receptionist first thing Tuesday, left outline details and contact numbers. No one has called back. Contacted another one today, "maybe" could visit next week, but can't promise anything!
Doubt if estate is worth fortunes - is it the same as inheritance tax threshold?

meg00

Thanks Tosca, but it would appear the rules are different for an unmarried woman, and the doctors aren't confident about her logevity.

Torry_Quine

The helpline is open until midnight.

http://www.unison.org.uk/for-members/legal-services/

meg00

Torry,
I will contact them tomorrow, I need to check J is a member first.

xylophone

Her brother/sister could contact the administrator?

jamesd

A pension is never part of an estate. If no other guidance is available pension trustees may consider the contents of a will as one factor in their decision over who to pay any death benefits to. But note the earlier answer about loss on death of a single person for most public sector schemes. There might not even be any death benefit, just pension stopping.

Those responsible for the pension at her employer should be able to answer questions and also say how you or someone else can quickly get any required forms for any nominations that can be made. They might be willing to do things like hand them to a taxi driver for delivery to hospital and return after completion and signing when the circumstances, including inability to speak and possible sudden and unpredictable loss of mental faculties, are explained to them, with a way for them to check by contacting the hospital.

With no will, the partner would get nothing from her estate. Intestacy rules would deliver her whole estate to her full-blood relative siblings. She can tell her siblings what she wants but it would still be their right to ignore her wishes, since the money is theirs to handle as they wish. As soon as she marries, the person she marries gets it instead (ignoring the her children case, which doesn't apply here).

hyubh

If it's the LGPS, then being married (or in a civil partnership) isn't a requirement for a widow/widower's pension, however the member does need to have completed the relevant documentation to nominate their 'cohabiting partner' beforehand (this is distinct from the 'expression of wish' form mentioned earlier):

http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=279071

Aside from the nomination form itself, typically copies of a utility bill or two suffices as evidence of the 'living as married' qualification, though different local administrators may vary slightly.

meg00

The co-habit does not apply, they live separately as their workplaces were 80 miles away.

dunstonh

As they do not live together, the scheme rules would not allow benefits to be paid. There has to be a form of dependency between them. Cohabiting shows that.

An appeal can be made to the trustees to consider her case if it can be shown that they have had financial links for a number of years. Such as joint bank accounts, joint loans etc. It is low likelihood of success but trustees do have the ability to make decisions to differ from published rules in cases that dont fit the norm. It really depends on the evidence that can be provided to show a financial link and for how long. The trustees will also be on guard as it is not uncommon for people in this sort of situation to try and nominate a friend where no relationship exists. So, they will consider whether that is the case here.

atush

Well they could of course, get married.

Get the Expressions of wish form done ASAP, then follow up with a marriage if pension benefits are needed for the surviving partner. Ask the hospital chaplain about how to go about it?