Pension Beneficiaries

colinjd

Morning,

I'm still some 12 or 13 years away from being in a situation that will allow me to start taking a pension but I thought it might be a good time to do some housekeeping and it's thrown up a question.

I'm single and have no dependents. I have 2 x DB pensions and 1 x SIPP and would like to nominate my sister and/or my <5yr old niece as beneficiaries, which given the suggested changes to pension legislation next year could be quite useful.

My question is...my sister lives overseas (Denmark) and as far as I'm aware she is no longer part of the UK taxation system so how do I go about nominating them? Is the process as straightforward as if they were in the UK?

I've been doing some digging around but can't find anything that covers this sort of thing so any suggested websites or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

Your_Hero

colinjd wrote: »

Morning,

I'm still some 12 or 13 years away from being in a situation that will allow me to start taking a pension but I thought it might be a good time to do some housekeeping and it's thrown up a question.

I'm single and have no dependents. I have 2 x DB pensions and 1 x SIPP and would like to nominate my sister and/or my <5yr old niece as beneficiaries, which given the suggested changes to pension legislation next year could be quite useful.

My question is...my sister lives overseas (Denmark) and as far as I'm aware she is no longer part of the UK taxation system so how do I go about nominating them? Is the process as straightforward as if they were in the UK?

To my knowledge and perhaps someone can correct me here, it usually doesn't matter where they reside. You just have to complete the nomination/wishes form and you can request one from your pension trustees or usually you can find it on their website.

mania112

Yep, you are entitled to request your estate/assets to bequeath to anyone, anywhere.

But no, it might be slightly more cumbersome compared to someone within the UK. Nothing too much to worry about though, it's just the situation you're faced with, not a long you can do about it.

Just make sure, if ever your sister moves, you continue to update the pension providers.

Also worth ensuring your will is up-to-date and [presumably] correlates to the beneficiaries of your pension.

P.S - Letting someone that knows you both (another relative) within the UK aware of the situation could be helpful.

kidmugsy

The SIPP is probably the useful one, where nominating them as beneficiaries will be effective. For the DB pensions it'll depend on the trust deeds, but if neither is a financial dependant of yours the Trustees may not be allowed to pass any money to them. Of course, nearer the time of retirement you could consider transferring out of one or both DB pensions, but perhaps only if you are then in bad health.

colinjd

mania112 wrote: »

Also worth ensuring your will is up-to-date and [presumably] correlates to the beneficiaries of your pension.

Thanks.
*makes note to actually get 'round to making out a will* :shocked:

Missed out on Will Aid this year as well...my own stoopid fault.

Seabee42

Generally speaking any lump sum benefit from a pension plan on death would be something you could nominate a beneficiary for. Any pension entitlement would be usually spouse or child as per the scheme rules only.

Each scheme should have a nomination form for you to complete. Its always worth doing as most schemes will not be able to pay an in direct relative who is not nominated.