Pension help for widow

Hopefulalison

My husband died aged 61. Can I get any help from the government for a pension that he has contributed to but now can’t claim

dunstonh

Sorry for your loss.
What type of pension is it that you are referring to?  you say one he contributed to. So, was that a workplace pension or a personal pension?

gm0

If as seems likely you are referring to a personal or occupational (private) pension that your husband had during working life then this will have had (or should have had) a nominated named beneficiary (e.g. you) to whom the trustees of this scheme would be directed to pay the pension death benefits upon death of the pensioner. 

This "nominated beneficiary" expression of wishes process sets up what is meant to happen to a pension after death.  Usually spouse, sometimes children, or a mixture.  There are legal edges to what can be done.  The trustees of the scheme have to look at the case based on those limits and what was nominated and then act upon it.  Problems can occasionally arise when people's circumstances have changed but they neglected to update the beneficiary.

You will need to contact the scheme administrators who look after it for the trustees (occupational pension) or the company operating it (personal pension).

If it is an old pension and not in payment then the paperwork you have may not be up to date with who is looking after it now so there may be a step or two to get to the right place.

You also will need to deal with The Pension Service (DWP) around reporting the death and your status now as a widow in respect of state benefits.  A lot of that can be fairly automatic (Tell us Once @ death registration) but it obviously depends upon the government already knowing about you both and your marriage for it to work well.  In calling them TPS are in normal times at least - fairly easy to deal with on this particular process.

tacpot12

In addition to chasing down the pensions that you husband had, you might want to check your own entitlement to benefits, which you can do at entitledto.co.uk or turn2us.org.uk.

You should try to find all the pensions he had as any of them might pay a survivor's pension.  

AnotherJoe

Hopefulalison said:

My husband died aged 61. Can I get any help from the government for a pension that he has contributed to but now can’t claim

Did you contact the company he worked for / the pension company?