Married couple pension

Paulbrad

My wife is already in receipt of her state pension on the old scheme but I receive my state pension on the new schemme in dec 2016, noone seems to cover this inthere pensions advice what happens to people like us?, how are our pensions affected or combined?

Mojisola

Your wife carries on getting her pension.

You get your pension.

xylophone

See also https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181235/derived-inherited-entitlement.pdf

page 8

McKneff

You both get separate pensions.


Unless you are in your 80s or so there is no such thing as Married couples pension.
They abolished it years ago.

jem16

McKneff wrote: »

Unless you are in your 80s or so there is no such thing as Married couples pension.
They abolished it years ago.

My parents are 86 and 84 - both get separate pensions with my Mum's based on my Dad's contributions.

McKneff

I really cant remember when the dates are to be honest Jem but it still does exist for some so presmumably even older that your mam and dad.

jem16

McKneff wrote: »

I really cant remember when the dates are to be honest Jem but it still does exist for some so presmumably even older that your mam and dad.

I'm not so sure it ever existed. As far as I know it was just a misnomer and came about simply because very few women had state pensions based on their own contributions and usually claimed on their husband's contributions.

The actual pension was always paid separately as far as I'm aware.

There was, and still is, a Married Couples Allowance for tax purposes for someone born before April 1935. Perhaps this is what you're thinking of?

PennyForThem_2

You maybe entitled to 'inherit' her state pension if she dies before you. You need to check out this site:


http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/what-happens-to-your-state-pension-when-you-die

jamesd

Paulbrad wrote: »

My wife is already in receipt of her state pension on the old scheme but I receive my state pension on the new schemme in dec 2016, noone seems to cover this inthere pensions advice what happens to people like us?, how are our pensions affected or combined?

Some good news in this. If she defers her state pension it'll increase by 10.4% a year, the increase mostly inheritable by you. If you were to defer yours it'd go up by the lower 5.8% and not be inheritable by her. Both are good investment deals but 10.4% is pretty spectacular for inflation-linked income for life.

margaretclare

Yes, I think it was a misnomer, but many people have been misled - that's why we get this question from time to time, the one that the OP is asking. I don't think there was ever a 'joint' retirement pension. What has happened in the past, where a married woman didn't work outside the home (what Beveridge in 1942 thought should happen!) was that she would receive 60% and her husband would receive 100%. She got that 60% through his contributions and not through her own.

Nowadays there are still women getting it that way, but there are an increasing number of women who accrue their own pension through their own contributions. So each get 100% paid into their own bank account, total 200% if you want to regard it as for a couple.

I think that even years ago, women would have their own pension book and the man would have his, even if they both cashed it together and regarded it as one. Nowadays of course we have the option of our own bank account.

OP, is your wife getting her pension through her own contributions?

margaretclare

jem16 wrote: »

I'm not so sure it ever existed. As far as I know it was just a misnomer and came about simply because very few women had state pensions based on their own contributions and usually claimed on their husband's contributions.

The actual pension was always paid separately as far as I'm aware.

There was, and still is, a Married Couples Allowance for tax purposes for someone born before April 1935. Perhaps this is what you're thinking of?

We get this. We just squeezed into it because DH was born before April 1935 - end of December 1934 in fact. It used to be for a married man to support his wife. Nowadays we split it between us, to set against our individual pensions income, SRP and annuities. Not what Beveridge had in mind!