Death befor taking pension & ex wife dependant

atush

And for the interim payment and T & Cs

masonj3

Hi again

This morning we have received a letter from Xurich along with a cheque for the interim payment and a copy of the scheme rules.
The letter is brief they have returned the court order and the other information which we sent to them. It encloses the cheque and scheme rules and says that their complaint s team will write separately regarding my queries ( please see my post yesterday).

I have quickly looked through the scheme rules. My dads pension was originally with Allied Dunbar but was later taken over. Y Zurich. The scheme rules are Zurichs - we actually were never sent these but they have not supplied the original scheme rules from when the plan was taken out, however I'm not sure if that matters or if they are obliged to.

The rules define a dependent as follows - - what I cannot see from the scheme rules is what level of dependencey his ex wife would be and if they pay out at what level or percentage. The complaints department have approx 8 weeks to respond I'm just unsure whether to sit and wait, request more info or seek legal advise ??

Here is the dependent definition :-
Dependants means:-
Any individuals (other than a child of the member) who in the opinion of the scheme administrator were at the time of the death of the member financially dependent on the member or dependent because of disability or had a financial relationship of mutual dependence with the member.

molerat

The only thing of importance is the small part below

masonj3 wrote: »

who in the opinion of the scheme administrator

You have provided your thoughts and evidence to the administrators and it is really up to them to make the decision using (or maybe ignoring at their discretion) your submission. I very much doubt that the original scheme rules would have been different, that sort of wording has been standard for many years. I don't think legal advice is really necessary yet and once lawyers are involved their share your payout could start to increase rapidly. The complaints procedure is a set 8 week timescale after which you may be able to escalate. You could always seek free advice from TPAS https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-us

masonj3

Thank you do u think it will say in the scheme rules what % a financial dependent would be given? I couldn't see anything a first glance? X

molerat

There are usually only set %s given to immediate family from DB pensions and laid down clearly in the rules, DC pensions will give whatever the administrators decide is fair to all parties. At £4 a week I doubt they will give much - a £4K-£5K lump sum will more than cover that responsibility for the next 20 years.

masonj3

Thank you again. I keep thinking surely it cant be a huge amount in all honesty however it does concern us that even knowing the low rate of maintenance paid that they have withheld around £20k if they were only considereing a low payout like we all seem to think.

Even £4/5k after just 2 years of marriage isn't justifiable in my opinion especially as the pension was set up at least 12/15 years after their divorce. Also why is it taking so long to make a decision?

I also think it is wrong when there is a will and an expression of wishes form was also completed by my dad that someone can over rule and disrespect his final written legal wishes .

Even paying her £1 would of been against what my dad felt, I know it is at the scheme administratiors discretion but I just totally disagree . Thank you everyone again xx

atush

Do let us know what they say, and if you go forwards.

I'd offer her 1000 quid (5 years with) to go away.

lexington013

Surely your dads pension is now a "spouses pension" or widows pension.
As these pensions were set up after the divorce from the first wife, then she has no claim on these?
As your father has passed away surely there is no longer a claim for maintenance to the ex wife.
I'd be very surprised if you have to pay anything at all!

masonj3

My dad never took his pension he had deferred it and we had no idea he was so poorly he was given 6-8 weeks but only survived 2. So there was no pension to convert to a spouse / widow pension.

The maintenance ceased when my dad died but Zurich still say his ex wife is a potential financial dependent in view of the spousal maintenance which she was receiving up until he died. I doubt Zurich would have taken the trouble of writing to her if they didn't feel that she should receive anything.

So I guess it's just a waiting game now to see what decision they make xx

jamesd

She is a potential financial dependent just because she was receiving money. But since state pension deferral could get her more than she was getting at a cost of only a couple of thousand Pounds there's no real reason for them to consider more than that. And less or nil seems likely once they have considered her current financial position.

Zurich have to seek information from her, in part because if she was to disagree with what they decided she could take them to court to try to get more. That's also why they are keeping back a bit, so they haven't fully made payment until they have the information to make a decision that they are comfortable with. Trustees having to make these decisions is something that comes as part of the way the tax benefits of pensions are delivered. Even if they make a payment it'll still be a big gain from the tax benefits overall.

Them apparently cutting the amount withheld from £48k to £20k is a sign that things are moving in the right direction.