Looking for Ideas/Suggestions regarding my Pension options please?

jamesd

Alter_ego wrote: »

I have deferred my SP under the present rules,
My wife will reach SP age after April 2016 and she will be entitled to full SP via her own contributions, therefore presumably not a dependant.
If I die before her can she inherit any of my extra SP?assuming I have claimed my SP at the time.

See the bold in my quote earlier: "where the Contributor reaches SPa in the current scheme, the surviving Dependant will be able to inherit under the existing rules even if they are in the single tier".

This will apply to your situation and she will inherit. This applies to all cases where a person is deferring under current rules.

The paper goes on to explain that this is because those deferring under current rules will have planned on this happening.

Alter_ego

jamesd wrote: »

See the bold in my quote earlier: "where the Contributor reaches SPa in the current scheme, the surviving Dependant will be able to inherit under the existing rules even if they are in the single tier".

Yes,thanks I've seen that. However my wife is not and will not be a dependant. She will not be claiming her pension based on my NICs.

Please consider the title of the paper quoted on page 1,

"State Pension entitlements derived from a current or former spouse's or civil partner's National Insurance contributions."

It would be great if your interpretation is correct, but I doubt it based on the above.

jamesd

Alter_ego wrote: »

Yes,thanks I've seen that. However my wife is not and will not be a dependant. She will not be claiming her pension based on my NICs.

Nor could she claim the basic entitlement based on your contributions even if she wanted to. That is not permitted at all for those who reach SPA after the flat rate comes in and paragraph 37 says so. Basic here being essentially the basic state pension entitlement.

However, she will be a dependant based on the definition that the document says it is using: "Dependant: this refers to the individual who is relying on using their spouse or civil partner’s National Insurance Contributions record for the purpose of accessing pension entitlement". She will be using your record to claim the inherited deferral amounts.

Alter_ego wrote: »

Please consider the title of the paper quoted on page 1,

"State Pension entitlements derived from a current or former spouse's or civil partner's National Insurance contributions."

It would be great if your interpretation is correct, but I doubt it based on the above.

That does nothing to contradict the other text. She will be claiming inherited payments based on your contributions and deferral - some of your additional state pension and some of any deferral-related increase.

The document isn't just about the ability to get a basic state pension, it also covers other cases that specify that she will inherit.

I have the impression that you're approaching this document from an expectation that it is only about basic state pension entitlement, what has often been improperly called the married couple's pension entitlement for her. It isn't that narrow, it covers the other cases as well.

Alter_ego

Hopefully you are right James, I've emailed DWP with the specific question. I phoned them earlier and could not get a straight answer.
I'll come back with their reply, but I guess it'll take weeks rather than days