Widowers pension.

andru

Just a quick one really, hopefully.

Can I defer my late wife's widowers pension that is paid to me until a specified age? I would like it paid when I'm 68 as opposed to 52 as I am now. What would the implications be, if any?

Thanks

Malthusian

It depends what type of pension your wife had.

If she had an annuity in payment or an occupational defined benefit pension, the answer is probably no. There will be no provision in the scheme rules to calculate what a fair uplift would be for deferring the pension until age 68.

If however she had an undrawn personal pension, or an income drawdown policy, you should be able to do whatever you like with it.

Ring the pension provider and ask what your options are.

If you do end up forced to have a widow's pension that you don't want, you can pay the widow's pension into a pension plan of your own, assuming you have sufficient earned income. Say you earn £11,500pa and you're having a £5,000pa widow's pension forced upon you which you will have to pay 20% income tax on. Simply pay the £4,000pa you receive after tax into a pension scheme and you will get 20% tax relief, restoring it to £5,000. Once you turn 68 you can then draw your "widow's pension" however you like from the fund you've built up.

xylophone

You mention that your late wife died in 2015 so one assumes that this pension is already in payment?

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