Joint bank account and pension lump sum

REDSHOES

I would welcome some advice please

My husband has very recently passed away (3rd Jan) my family and myself are devastated but he suffered too much in his last few months and he is at peace now.

My husband worked for the Civil Service and he was paid fully when he was off sick for a full year. This all came to an end mid November. He was only 62 and had planned to go back to work and this was fully supported by his manager and HR. He was going back on a phased return to build up slowly to full time. When it became evident that he was going to be unable to return to work because he was far too ill, he opted for retirement. He was a member of the classic scheme so was able to retire with no loss of benefits. His retirement was fast forwarded and his last 'working day' was the 30th November.

The paperwork for retirement options took a week or so to be sent out, and my husband sent the completed forms back on 14th December. He had decided how much to take as a lump sum and yearly pension. He was told it would take 10 working days to be processed and also because it was close to xmas, that could cause a further delay. On top of that on 30th December, some forms were sent back to him as he had not completed them fully. He completed those and I sent those back on his behalf by e-mail hoping that would speed up the process.

He passed on the 3rd January and my children and myself are dealing with the many things that need to be organised and arranged. My children have been amazing and have taken the weight off my shoulders for much of this however, his lump sum and any pension instalments due are still in the process of being finalised. I rang them yesterday and they said it should be completed by this coming Wednesday and in the account shortly after. So my concern now with this is. the account the money is going into is a joint bank account and anything either of us have ever earned have gone into this account and we both had full access to any money in there at any time.
The money that is going into this account is a lump sum pension amount and obviously this is his. and he agreed for this to go into this joint account when he sent the forms back to the pension company dated 14th December. I don't know much about wills and probate and such, but I know his account now becomes mine solely. Does this include any amount that goes into this after his death? He has a will that includes myself and our 3 children as executer's and also leaving any of his assets to me. The lump sum was always intended to be an amount that we would both have access to, and I am too in the process of claiming my lump sum from work which will go into the same account ( I am planning to retire and go back to work)

I understand the money in the joint account is now mine solely, but does that include any amount that is still being processed into this account which has actually been provided by my husband. Would it be illegal for me to move this money elsewhere or would I need to arrange probate to do so? I am worried about contacting the bank about this in case they freeze anything needlessly. I will speak to them to let them know of his death but unsure whether to wait until the money hits the account

xylophone

Judging by a relative's recent experience, the surviving joint account holder simply had to make an appointment (Barclays) in order to report the death and produce the death certificate - there was no disruption to the operation of the account at all.

The name of the deceased was no longer showing on the account in online banking after 24 hours and cheque books in the sole name were sent shortly afterwards.

As you have checked the situation with CSPS and as your husband chose to have the money credited to the joint account (and as his will names you as the beneficiary of all his assets), why not just wait until the money from CSPS has been received and then make an appointment as above?

Keep_pedalling

I am not sure if this counts as part of his estate or not. Normally any pension payment does not form part of someone’s estate, but I am not sure if that is the case here as it is a retirement lump sum that was due before he died.

It might be worthwhile posting over on the pensions board, as there is plenty of expertise on CS pensions over there.

It may even be the case that as he was yet to receive any pension payment before he died you may be entitled to a death in service payment instead.

xylophone

It may even be the case that as he was yet to receive any pension payment before he died you may be entitled to a death in service payment instead.

The OP mentions that she spoke to the administrators yesterday (presumably advising them of her husband's death)?

They would not appear to have told her of any change in the agreed arrangement, presumably because

His retirement was fast forwarded and his last 'working day' was the 30th November

so that he was actually retired and due arrears of pension for the month of December and the lump sum?

Marcon

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

I am not sure if this counts as part of his estate or not. Normally any pension payment does not form part of someone’s estate, but I am not sure if that is the case here as it is a retirement lump sum that was due before he died.

It may even be the case that as he was yet to receive any pension payment before he died you may be entitled to a death in service payment instead.

Pension payments (including retirement lump sums) do form part of the estate, because they were an asset of the person concerned at the time he or she died. This applies whether they had actually been received, or had simply become due and payable before the death.

Lump sums which become payable as a result of someone's death (whether death in service, balance of any guarantee period, etc) don't automatically become part of the estate. As someone else has pointed out, this gentleman had retired before he died, so no death in service payment is due.

OP, I am sorry your year had such a dreadful start, but I don't think this payment when it happens is going to complicate anything for you.