Death Grant

popsicle21

My ex husband passed away in April.  He leaves 3 teenagers.  I have since learned of a death in service benefit from his pension. 12 days after he died 10k was paid into his bank account ,I am guessing he must have drawn from his pension early. 
The pension company want this money back before they pay out 18k to the executors (his sisters) .
She has told me anything he has left will go to my children, and I have already been told there is nothing, apart from his pension which goes to them and is all sorted. 
My question is wouldn't she have known about the 10k if she was the one sorting out the bank and  paperwork or is it possible it went straight out to pay debts.  Not sure if anyone can shed any light on this but thought I'd give it a shot. Thank you. 

SiliconChip

Is the issue that the £10K went into his account and is now no longer there so can't be returned in order for the £18K to be paid out? If so what does his sister say has happened to the £10K? In theory his account should have been frozen as soon as the bank was notified of his death so the money should still be there, but perhaps the notification was delayed and payments went out before it was frozen.

His sister will eventually have to produce estate accounts for the beneficiaries so at that point you should be able to see what happened, but it's probaby worth asking her before that for an update if you think she's likely to give you an answer (which of course is a relationship issue rather than a financial one).

popsicle21

So I contacted his sister,  she assumed the 10k was his and was going to ask me for the children's bank details. They didn't know about the death benefit and the 10k is now 9k as paid off some of his debts and are saying they can't afford to pay it back to the pension company who won't release the 18k until its paid.  Not much else I can do other than wait.  Thanks for replying 

msb1234

I wonder why the pension company don't just pay out £8K now? 
Did he leave a will btw?

Ms_Chocaholic

Did he have any other assets - a house, car, savings?

popsicle21

I don't know,  I wondered that myself. Yes he did leave a will but it didn't say anything about the children getting anything,  I think that may have been an oversight on his part.  I suppose legally his sisters don't have to give them anything. 

popsicle21

No,  he was renting,  his car was sold and the money went to his sisters it was 1k. No savings he wasn't very good with money. 

p00hsticks

popsicle21 said:

I don't know,  I wondered that myself. Yes he did leave a will but it didn't say anything about the children getting anything,  I think that may have been an oversight on his part.  I suppose legally his sisters don't have to give them anything. 

Who gets Death In Service payments and any Defined Contribution Pension isn't usuaaly determined by the will or the rules of intestacy. Usually the person whose died will have been asked by the employer / pension provider to complete an 'expression of wish' form to say who they want to get the payout. This isn't usually binding - for tax purposes it's better that the final decision is left to the trustees of the death benefit / pension, as then the payment falls outside the estate. Any expression of wish will be given a lot of weight but if there isn't one or it was completed a long time ago then the trustees may ask whoever is dealing with the estate to provide a copy of any will and details of living relatives (usually in the pecking order of wives, children. parents and siblings) to help them decide who should havethe money.

popsicle21

Maybe that's why the pension company want the 10k paying back.  The children are getting monthly pension payments up to the age of 23 if in full time education . Hopefully then they will get the death in service payment too. Thank you. 

kazwookie

If you want to find out about his WILL, for the fact regarding your children, if the sisters won't let you have a copy, try here:-

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

RAS

kazwookie said:

If you want to find out about his WILL, for the fact regarding your children, if the sisters won't let you have a copy, try here:-

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

Which is only relevant after probate has been granted. And people have recently been reporting delays in probate been recorded there.