Dependant’s pension after the death of my dad

Thrugelmir

EmmaW4lli5 said:

QrizB said:

It's a financial product where you pay a sum of money to receive a regular income for (normally) the rest of your life. A bit like life insurance but in reverse.

Thank you, but how is that different from a pension?

It's a form of pension. The pot of money has been exchanged for an income for life. The insurer takes the risk of how long the receipient lives. 

Albermarle

He was paying into a private pension (something call The Platform) and he was also paying into his workplace pension (NOW).

If he was definitely still paying into these pensions ( and not getting an income from them ) , then they will both contain a pot of money . In both cases he should have filled in an 'expression of wish ' form to nominate a beneficiary(s) that the pension provider will have copies of . If he has not filled one in they would normally go to the closest dependent .

So it is a different and hopefully more straightforward situation than with the Aviva pension, which was already in payment.

You need to contact them to inform them of his death .

atush

EmmaW4lli5 said:

QrizB said:

It's a financial product where you pay a sum of money to receive a regular income for (normally) the rest of your life. A bit like life insurance but in reverse.

Thank you, but hopw is that different from a pension?

It differs in that he spent his pension buying an annuity, which is a contract to pay an income for life, so there is no longer a pension.  in this case you were lucky as he had a 5 year guarantee.  Are there any other pensions he hadnt taken yet or bought annuities with?

Did he fill out an expression of wishes for anyone to inherit his pension?

It is up the the discretion of the trustees to pay out a pension to his nearest blood relative or transfer value to his estate

Keep_pedalling

eskbanker said:

EmmaW4lli5 said:

My aunt (one of the four siblings) died six months ago and we’ve been having such a hard time dealing with the solicitor who was appointed executor of her estate that I’m thinking about asking dad’s solicitor to renounce their role so I can do it myself.

Not convinced it's fair or reasonable to judge one solicitor's future performance on your opinion of another - shouldn't they be given the chance to do the job your dad entrusted them to do?

In the OPs position I would not hesitate to ask them to renounce. Solicitors will usually take a lot longer to wind up an estate and will cost the residuary beneficiary (the OP) a significant chunk of their inheritance. Once probate is started it is very difficult to remove an executor, so by the time you have found out the solicitor is making a poor job of it it is too late.

The OP will find he still has to do a load of the donkey work for the solicitor anyway.

WYSPECIAL

Keep_pedalling said:

eskbanker said:

EmmaW4lli5 said:

My aunt (one of the four siblings) died six months ago and we’ve been having such a hard time dealing with the solicitor who was appointed executor of her estate that I’m thinking about asking dad’s solicitor to renounce their role so I can do it myself.

Not convinced it's fair or reasonable to judge one solicitor's future performance on your opinion of another - shouldn't they be given the chance to do the job your dad entrusted them to do?

In the OPs position I would not hesitate to ask them to renounce. Solicitors will usually take a lot longer to wind up an estate and will cost the residuary beneficiary (the OP) a significant chunk of their inheritance. Once probate is started it is very difficult to remove an executor, so by the time you have found out the solicitor is making a poor job of it it is too late.

The OP will find he still has to do a load of the donkey work for the solicitor anyway.

What incentive would there be for the solicitor to give up work and income that has been entrusted to them by their client when he was alive?

Keep_pedalling

WYSPECIAL said:

Keep_pedalling said:

eskbanker said:

EmmaW4lli5 said:

My aunt (one of the four siblings) died six months ago and we’ve been having such a hard time dealing with the solicitor who was appointed executor of her estate that I’m thinking about asking dad’s solicitor to renounce their role so I can do it myself.

Not convinced it's fair or reasonable to judge one solicitor's future performance on your opinion of another - shouldn't they be given the chance to do the job your dad entrusted them to do?

In the OPs position I would not hesitate to ask them to renounce. Solicitors will usually take a lot longer to wind up an estate and will cost the residuary beneficiary (the OP) a significant chunk of their inheritance. Once probate is started it is very difficult to remove an executor, so by the time you have found out the solicitor is making a poor job of it it is too late.

The OP will find he still has to do a load of the donkey work for the solicitor anyway.

What incentive would there be for the solicitor to give up work and income that has been entrusted to them by their client when he was alive?

None, and they have no legal obligation to do so, but most requests to so so will be granted. The SRA guidance is that solicitors should do so unless they have a good reason not to so. The good reason does not include loss of fees.

Robert_McGeddon

EmmaW4lli5 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Have you seen and read the will? Have you spoken to the Executor? 

The solicitor has been notified of dad’s death and I’ll be dropping off copies of paperwork to them once I get the death certificates through the post. As dad’s death was unexpected it had to be referred to the coroner for a post mortem, which is why I don’t have the death certificates yet.

IIRC you can ask the Coronor's office for a "Certificate as to the fact of death" if a post mortem is likely to delay the issue of a full DC.

Most institutions accept this as if it were the full DC.  It might help get things moving for you.