Need advice on late mother's pension

lmoon25

Hi all,

My partners mother passed away in 2010. After some dealing with her pension company, trustees have decided that her pension will be split equally between him and his sister.

His estranged father was a potential beneficiary but there were special circumstances in that his mother and father separated in 2007.

However, the pension company have now said that they need to contact his father for information to close the case (while still saying that payment will be split equally between him and his sister.)

My partner is worried because his father is a notorious liar and very manipulative and he's concerned he may falsely dispute the correct information that he has provided in order to try to make money from the pension himself. He has tried to do this back in 2015, prior to my partner enquiring about his mum's pension.

Does anyone have any idea why they would want to speak to his father?

Thank you

molerat

Were they still married ? If so the trustees have a duty to investigate the financial circumstances of their partnership.

Alexland

Yes if they only separated and did not complete a divorce then he could still be a beneficiary. It looks like the trustees are taking a methodical approach so it is unlikely their actions would change as a result of manipulation.

lmoon25

They were still married however at the time of her death he was cohabiting with his now new wife and didnt have any contact with my partner, his sister or their late mum. He didn't help financially in any way. The pension company and trustees are aware of all the details however he is very likely to dispute the information my partner has given even though it is the truth.

bigadaj

Was there an expression of wishes form completed, had it been updated and what did it say?

Silvertabby

It depends on the pension scheme rules. Do you know if your partner's mum had a money purchase or final salary pension?

If the latter, then it may be that if she died shortly after retirement then there will be a one-off death benefit/pension guarantee lump im payable to the person/persons she nominated. However, as she was still legally married when she died, the pension company may have no option but to pay a widower's pension in addition to the lump sum.

lmoon25

As far as my partner is aware she didn't have any kind of paperwork such as those mentioned. She didn't leave a will either. She was very poorly and in and out of hospital for the last part of her life and both my partner and his sister were in their early 20s when she passed so completely clueless to pensions etc.

I think it makes sense that they would maybe need to contact him for a widowers benefit of some kind. However, both my partner and his sister do not want their father to have any sort of benefit as their parent's separation was due to their father's adultery and so both harbour a lot of ill feeling. They have both expressed that they wouldn't wish to take matters any further if it meant their father gaining money. I personally think that is to cut off their noses to spite their faces but it is their decision at the end of the day.

Silvertabby

Unfortunately, if the scheme rules specify that they must pay a widower's pension, then the only person who can veto that is the husband himself. However, again down to scheme rules, some pension schemes will stop widow's/widower's benefits on remarriage.

Do you know which pension scheme your partner's mum was a member of? If not, then do you know where she worked, as that may give an indication of the scheme.

Also, how old was she when she died - as your partner and his sister were only in their 20s, am I right in thinking that she wasn't actually drawing her pension when she died?

Thrugelmir

lmoon25 wrote: »

They were still married however at the time of her death he was cohabiting with his now new wife and didnt have any contact with my partner, his sister or their late mum. He didn't help financially in any way. The pension company and trustees are aware of all the details however he is very likely to dispute the information my partner has given even though it is the truth.

Legally they were still married. Without a Financial Consent Order which is normally obtained upon divorce. He could lay claim to her assets. You need to seperate the emotional side from the factual side. Appreciate that this is difficult under these circumstances, but the Trustees cannot base their decision on heresay.

bigadaj

lmoon25 wrote: »

As far as my partner is aware she didn't have any kind of paperwork such as those mentioned. She didn't leave a will either. She was very poorly and in and out of hospital for the last part of her life and both my partner and his sister were in their early 20s when she passed so completely clueless to pensions etc.

I think it makes sense that they would maybe need to contact him for a widowers benefit of some kind. However, both my partner and his sister do not want their father to have any sort of benefit as their parent's separation was due to their father's adultery and so both harbour a lot of ill feeling. They have both expressed that they wouldn't wish to take matters any further if it meant their father gaining money. I personally think that is to cut off their noses to spite their faces but it is their decision at the end of the day.

The difficulty is that if the mother didn't formally record her wishes there is no objective evidence. Even if she had then the scheme may still have to pay out, but it could be at the discretion of the trustees.

If the children wanted to object to any payment then they need to collect and eviden of the mothers wishes, a simple document would have been so much simpler if her feelings were so strong on this matter.