State pension upon death

andgh1978

My uncle sadly passed away last year. The solicitor dealing with the estate is proving slow and impossible to contact and I'm hoping someone here may be able to shed some light on what should happen in this situation:


A year before my uncle passed away, my auntie, his wife also passed away. She was eligible for state pension for 10 years but never claimed it. The department of work and pensions have so far failed to respond to any queries from the solicitors for a year now. Does anybody know if this unclaimed pension should be going into the estate? It seems only right that after paying NI contributions her whole life that this money would not just go back to the government.


Any advice much appreciated.

jem16

andgh1978 wrote: »

Does anybody know if this unclaimed pension should be going into the estate? It seems only right that after paying NI contributions her whole life that this money would not just go back to the government.

Page 38 of this document may answer your question.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/372517/dwp024-102014.pdf

What if I die and I am not married or in a civil partnership?

If you are not married or in a civil partnership, and you have put off claiming your State Pension but die before claiming it, someone else may make decisions about your estate. They may be able to claim up to three months of the State Pension you have not claimed, and this could include any extra State Pension you have earned before that. This will be paid to your estate. They cannot choose a lump-sum payment.

Problem is that your Uncle should have claimed it and the above may not actually apply.

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/372517/dwp024-102014.pdf

Page 30 onwards.