Pension payout delays

YdidntI

My father passed away in February and left a sum of money in an investment type pension, as executor I provided the grant of probate 6 weeks ago now and still haven’t been paid out. 

Being an investment type it obviously fluctuates with the market, it dropped 12k at the start of COVID and has slowly started to improve. Now I’m concerned if a second wave hits it’ll drop massively again, obviously I’m still having to pay for many things until I have the money to clear things and it would make a massive difference and relieve a lot of stress.

is there anything I can do to force them to settle as they do not seem to be in any hurry to deal with it?

Albermarle

All these type of issues are moving slowly at the moment due to Covid . I guess you will just have to keep pushing.
Most investments ( not all) that dropped at the start of Covid have largely recovered to almost back where they where. 
It is probable that a large second wave could hit share prices . On the other hand some positive developments on vaccines could see a big upturn .

xylophone

The pension administrator has acknowledged receipt of the Grant?
Have you tried telephoning?

Brynsam

YdidntI said:

My father passed away in February and left a sum of money in an investment type pension, as executor I provided the grant of probate 6 weeks ago now and still haven’t been paid out. 

Being an investment type it obviously fluctuates with the market, it dropped 12k at the start of COVID and has slowly started to improve. Now I’m concerned if a second wave hits it’ll drop massively again, obviously I’m still having to pay for many things until I have the money to clear things and it would make a massive difference and relieve a lot of stress.

is there anything I can do to force them to settle as they do not seem to be in any hurry to deal with it?

Normally such payments would fall outside the estate and would be made at the discretion of the trustees/managers, taking into account any expression of wish (aka nomination) form, albeit with further investigations such as asking for a copy of the will. Were you specifically asked for a copy of probate? Has it been confirmed payment would be to the estate - if not, what you see as a delay is simply the normal process of deciding on the recipient for the payout.

dunstonh

My father passed away in February and left a sum of money in an investment type pension, as executor I provided the grant of probate 6 weeks ago now and still haven’t been paid out. 

Sorry for your loss.

pensions are not included in the estate and the provider doesn't require the grant of probate.  Most providers will only require the death certificate and completion of a questionnaire to ascertain the details of family members etc.  Some will ask for a copy of hte Will when there is no expression of wish. The pension is not subject to the Will but it allows the trustees to get a feel of what the pension holder was thinking.

Being an investment type it obviously fluctuates with the market, it dropped 12k at the start of COVID and has slowly started to improve. 

You would have expected it to be better than "slowly started to improve".  It should either be back up to what it was before or thereabouts depending on the risk profile and asset mix.

is there anything I can do to force them to settle as they do not seem to be in any hurry to deal with it?

Most pensions are paid out very quickly because they are not part of the estate.   Once the death certificate and claim form is completed, it is usually within a week or two unless there is a dispute on beneficiaries.  

AnAnonUser

When my wife died at the start of the pandemic the form i got from the pension company said (I summarise  "we wouldnt normally do this but due to the exceptional circumstances if you ask we will sell the investments into cash right away so you arent affected by any falls in value"

You could contact the pension co and ask if they woudl do this if you are worried it will fall (could equally well rise) and desperately need that amount of  money / dont normally deal with investments and are nervous about it.

Dox

AnAnonUser said:

When my wife died at the start of the pandemic the form i got from the pension company said (I summarise  "we wouldnt normally do this but due to the exceptional circumstances if you ask we will sell the investments into cash right away so you arent affected by any falls in value"

You could contact the pension co and ask if they woudl do this if you are worried it will fall (could equally well rise) and desperately need that amount of  money / dont normally deal with investments and are nervous about it.

The snag with that excellent suggestion is that if OP isn't going to be the recipient of the eventual payout, they have no authority to give instructions on how the cash should be invested while the decision process is underway.

Brynsam

dunstonh said:

pensions are not included in the estate and the provider doesn't require the grant of probate.  

The provider may need to see the grant of probate where the pension is being paid to the estate - and some people do nominate their estate, particularly the few who are clued up enough to know that contrary to popular belief, payment to the estate doesn't mean the payment becomes subject to IHT (provided there is no binding requirement to pay it to the personal representatives).

YdidntI

They had the grant of probate 6 weeks ago, I’m sole executor but one of two beneficiaries those being me and my brother. As the will states it’s a equal split, I don’t think you could have anything more simpler. Although complaints have been lodged etc they still are not forthcoming with the final answer.

dunstonh

They had the grant of probate 6 weeks ago,

99% of cases, it is not needed.  Have you given them the death certificate?

As the will states it’s a equal split, I don’t think you could have anything more simpler.

The Will is not required unless there is a dispute on beneficiaries or there is no expression of wish.

YdidntI

dunstonh said:

They had the grant of probate 6 weeks ago,

99% of cases, it is not needed.  Have you given them the death certificate?

As the will states it’s a equal split, I don’t think you could have anything more simpler.

The Will is not required unless there is a dispute on beneficiaries or there is no expression of wish.

They have literally had everything after having ask for just Death cert to start, then they asked for grant of probate and lastly they decided they needed a copy of the Will!!