pension beneficiary

phillip_rutter

hi this is my first post so hope it works
my father passed away back in 2001 he was a prison officer he paid into the pension scheme for around thirty years ,my mother passed away a few years before. .My dad made me beneficiary to his pension as my mother who was previous beneficiary had passed away i signed forms my father gave me ,my dad retired and claimed his pension which was just under a thousand pounds per month for about 3 years ,on his passing he left his bank as excecuture to his will i asked them what do i do about his pension and they told me a pension can only go to a spouse not down a generation, is this true ? i have recently been told that it can but not had it verified as true by anyone .If this is true how would i go about finding if i can claim it .

heres hoping phil

jem16

phillip_rutter wrote: »

i have recently been told that it can but not had it verified as true by anyone .If this is true how would i go about finding if i can claim it .

heres hoping phil

If it's a Defined Benefit pension, as sounds likely, then the pension will not pass on to children unless they are under a certain age.

phillip_rutter

whats a defined benefit pension ?

jem16

A pension that gives a set of benefits on retiring - also known as a final salary pension.

molerat

You need to know exactly which pension scheme he was in. If the CSPS there may have been the "5 year lump sum" payment but after 3 years there is a fair possibility that this had all been used up especially if he had taken a larger lump sum at retirement. There would be no ongoing pension other than to a spouse or dependant relative.

Finst

I believe prison officers are in the civil service pension scheme, which as others have stated is a defined benefit scheme.

A child can only get a pension on the death of the pension scheme member under certain circumstances, usually if they are too young to work, still in full time education or were dependent on their parent due to serious disability.

There is a possibility that you would be due 2 years worth of pension payments under the 5 years guarantee. This would not be part of your father's estate so the bank would not have dealt with it - it is paid directly from the pension scheme to the beneficiaries.

Its worth contacting the civil service pension administrator (MyCSP) and asking whether there should have been a payment to you.