expression of wishes

freda11

if a person filled out an expression of wishes to nominate who should receive his pension upon death, but never sent it off to the pension company, and a copy is found in the deceased belongings would the EOW still legally be binding?

dunstonh

freda11 wrote: »

if a person filled out an expression of wishes to nominate who should receive his pension upon death, but never sent it off to the pension company, and a copy is found in the deceased belongings would the EOW still legally be binding?

an expression of wish is never legally binding even when its sent off to the administrators. The trustees always have the full say. Even with an expression of wish they will often ask for a copy of the Will to see if there have been changes since the expression of wish was made. They will also look at current circumstances (such as children under 23, spouse etc) before deciding if the expression of wish is suitable.

Personally, I doubt they would put much weight on a document that had not been sent to them prior to death. Circumstances and Will would likely trump it.

xylophone

if a person filled out an expression of wishes to nominate who should receive his pension upon death, but never sent it off to the pension company, and a copy is found in the deceased belongings would the EOW still legally be binding?

Signed, dated, witnessed? It would be worth submitting it to the pension administrators for a decision?

freda11

thanks for reply, to give a bit of background, will is being contested and we are now at litigation. but the person who is contesting is banging on about getting part of the pension, as stated in the expression of wishes letter, the pension is already paying out to the widow which was sorted out by the pension company who never mentioned an EOW letter. We know one was made about 20 years ago but it looks like the original and so was never returned to the pension company/workplace. we are now wondering one this person makes the company aware that there is an EOW will they alter the pension enabling him to get his cut?

DUTR

freda11 wrote: »

thanks for reply, to give a bit of background, will is being contested and we are now at litigation. but the person who is contesting is banging on about getting part of the pension, as stated in the expression of wishes letter, the pension is already paying out to the widow which was sorted out by the pension company who never mentioned an EOW letter. We know one was made about 20 years ago but it looks like the original and so was never returned to the pension company/workplace. we are now wondering one this person makes the company aware that there is an EOW will they alter the pension enabling him to get his cut?

I doubt it, but I'm no lawyer, best seek legal direction, but the trustees make the final call , and besides if the document was never sent off , then technically , it never existed.

dunstonh

but the person who is contesting is banging on about getting part of the pension

The pension is not part of the estate and the Will has no say over the pension. Providers tend to request the Will just to see if the expression of wish is consistent with wishes.

Is the pension an occupational pension or personal pension? Death benefits are worked out differently.

If Will is being contested legally then the best thing to do is discuss the pension with the solicitor.

freda11

thanks for the replies. its a private pension. The solicitor says she is going to check with the company if they ever received a EOW letter. I would of thought if they did possess one they would of acted on it and split the pension rather than give it to mum? There is no mention of an EOW letter in the will.

atush

I take your mum is the widow, and the person contesting the will is a child of a previous marriage?

freda11

spot on Atush, but the child is 63 yrs of age and has never spoken to the father in over 15 yrs! He only made contact then because his father had a near fatal heart attack.

stclair

My late father had a LGPS pension he was re-married, im a child from a previous relationship.

I was under the impression a nomination form was completed in my favour, however it was not the case.

The pension fund has absolute discretion over who receives any lump-sum death grant – they can pay it to a nominee or personal representatives or to any person who appears, at any time, to have a relative or dependant.

I had to write to them giving them reasons why they should pay me the money and I had to detail my financial circumstances etc.

In the end the pension fund paid us the money in equal shares.

jamesd

freda11 wrote: »

We know one was made about 20 years ago but it looks like the original and so was never returned to the pension company/workplace. we are now wondering one this person makes the company aware that there is an EOW will they alter the pension enabling him to get his cut?

Consider cases like the person writing the expression of wishes in front of them to please whoever is named in it but then deliberately choosing not to send it off because that's not what they actually desired.