How do I find out if my husband had paid in to a pension before we met?

meredith007

Hi everyone,
This is my first post and I appreciate any help !
My husband died very suddenly recently and his parents have asked me to sort out things - he never told me anything about a pension but he was permanently employed for a long time before he met me, so he may have had a pension. I have t found anything in his paperwork so how can I find out if he did have one?!?
Thanks in advance ...

Keep_pedalling

Do you know who is employers were? If so contact the administrators of the companies pension scheme.

Flugelhorn

Agree contact the employers - if you can find any payslips they may have "superann" / Pension on them. Other thing would be to look at old bank statements - any reg payments that might be insurance

elsien

I can't post a link at the moment, but moneyadviceservice.org.uk
has a very informative page about how to track down pensions. It includes template letters and also links to the Pension Tracing Service which may well be what you need if you don't have old employer details.

TBagpuss

Do you know whoyour husband worked for before you and he met (or would his parents be able to give you this information?)

If so, then the Pension tracing service is a good starting point https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details
You could also write to the former wemployer if they are still around.

If you find any of his old payslips when you are dealing with papers that may help you.

badmemory

Why would his parents ASK you to sort it out? As his next of kin, unless he made a will & they are executors, then it would normally be down to you & as his wife the pension would normally be yours without forming part of his estate.

meredith007

I’ve not lost a husband or partner before, I’m 44 so you’ll have to bear with me as I don’t know who does what.
Thanks for everyone else’s advice I found a CV and am in the process of contacting the firms listed.

Flugelhorn

meredith007 wrote: »

I’ve not lost a husband or partner before, I’m 44 so you’ll have to bear with me as I don’t know who does what.
Thanks for everyone else’s advice I found a CV and am in the process of contacting the firms listed.

That is a good start - might be worth speaking to the payroll departments, I find that they have the best idea what is going on re pensions

[Deleted User]

There is a pension tracing service which might be useful - details are on https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details