NI payments can I transfer them to my wife

gethro

Hi ,I am now 61 and have contributed to my state pension for over 40 years so I am entitled to a full state pension, my wife works part time and is 57 she doesn't pay NI as she is not earning enough, there are several years she hasn't contributed to her state pension 
My question is I have been told that I can gift her my NI payments but I cannot find out how to do this, several searches but I can't find a form or government webpage anywhere.
Can I swap my contributions to her account as I don't need them for me.
Thanks in advance Geoff 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Contributing for over 40 years doesn't necessarily entitle you to the standard new State Pension.

Have you checked your forecast on gov.uk, reading it thoroughly, not just the headline figure?

You also don't need to pay NI to get a qualifying year, the lower earnings limit (LEL) is what matters.  Has she checked her forecast on gov.uk, that is the crucial first step.

Who told you you could gift her some "NI payments" 🤔

molerat

Likely someone has heard about the transfer of child benefit related credits and assumed it is a blanket ability to transfer NI.

tacpot12

It's not something that you can do, which is why you can't find any information about it. 

Your wife can, and probably should, make voluntary NI contributions. She can start with the years where she has paid some NI, but not enough to make it "full". That way she gets the credit for the NI that she paid in those years. She can only go back up to six years, so she should not delay. 

As Dazed_and_C0nfused said, the starting point is for her to check her State Pension forecast to see if making these years full would make any difference.  

p00hsticks

tacpot12 said:

She can only go back up to six years, so she should not delay. 

Actually, until April 5th next year (2023) she can make voluntary contributions back as far as 2006 if there are gaps - a temporary extension introduced in 2016 as part of the new State Pension changes. After that date you are correct in saying that the timescales revert to only being able to pay the last six years.

However, filling years pre-2016 may or may not increase your state pension entitlement - which is why it is important to get the detail obtained in the state pension forecast and then either post it over on the Pensions board for people to comment or give the Future Pensions Centre a ring. 

gethro

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Contributing for over 40 years doesn't necessarily entitle you to the standard new State Pension.

Have you checked your forecast on gov.uk, reading it thoroughly, not just the headline figure?

You also don't need to pay NI to get a qualifying year, the lower earnings limit (LEL) is what matters.  Has she checked her forecast on gov.uk, that is the crucial first step.

Who told you you could gift her some "NI payments" 🤔

Hi
Yes I have checked my forecast which shows that every year since 1977-1978 I have contributed enough to have full years right up to 2020-2021 so 45 years of full contribution .
My wife has 29 full years up to 2009 and then "the year is not full " for 2010 - 2021
I did think it was strange that I couldn't find the info online ,like someone said they probably got confused with the family allowance thing. 

gethro

tacpot12 said:

It's not something that you can do, which is why you can't find any information about it. 

Your wife can, and probably should, make voluntary NI contributions. She can start with the years where she has paid some NI, but not enough to make it "full". That way she gets the credit for the NI that she paid in those years. She can only go back up to six years, so she should not delay. 

As Dazed_and_C0nfused said, the starting point is for her to check her State Pension forecast to see if making these years full would make any difference.  

Hi
We looked at her forecast a while back and it's something stupid like £350 for last year then £618 for the previous year then £860 ,we will have to sit down and look to see if it's worth paying to maker the years full.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

gethro said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Contributing for over 40 years doesn't necessarily entitle you to the standard new State Pension.

Have you checked your forecast on gov.uk, reading it thoroughly, not just the headline figure?

You also don't need to pay NI to get a qualifying year, the lower earnings limit (LEL) is what matters.  Has she checked her forecast on gov.uk, that is the crucial first step.

Who told you you could gift her some "NI payments" 🤔

Hi
Yes I have checked my forecast which shows that every year since 1977-1978 I have contributed enough to have full years right up to 2020-2021 so 45 years of full contribution .
My wife has 29 full years up to 2009 and then "the year is not full " for 2010 - 2021

Because you are both under transitional rules the number of years isn't all that important.

Ignoring the headline figure what have you each accrued to date, usually shown to 05:04:2022 at the moment?

OldBeanz

gethro said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Contributing for over 40 years doesn't necessarily entitle you to the standard new State Pension.

Have you checked your forecast on gov.uk, reading it thoroughly, not just the headline figure?

You also don't need to pay NI to get a qualifying year, the lower earnings limit (LEL) is what matters.  Has she checked her forecast on gov.uk, that is the crucial first step.

Who told you you could gift her some "NI payments" 🤔

Hi
Yes I have checked my forecast which shows that every year since 1977-1978 I have contributed enough to have full years right up to 2020-2021 so 45 years of full contribution .
My wife has 29 full years up to 2009 and then "the year is not full " for 2010 - 2021
I did think it was strange that I couldn't find the info online ,like someone said they probably got confused with the family allowance thing. 

I had 49 years of full contributions and did not reach the maximum pension. You need to check the forecast figures.

[Deleted User]

OldBeanz said:

gethro said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Contributing for over 40 years doesn't necessarily entitle you to the standard new State Pension.

Have you checked your forecast on gov.uk, reading it thoroughly, not just the headline figure?

You also don't need to pay NI to get a qualifying year, the lower earnings limit (LEL) is what matters.  Has she checked her forecast on gov.uk, that is the crucial first step.

Who told you you could gift her some "NI payments" 🤔

Hi
Yes I have checked my forecast which shows that every year since 1977-1978 I have contributed enough to have full years right up to 2020-2021 so 45 years of full contribution .
My wife has 29 full years up to 2009 and then "the year is not full " for 2010 - 2021
I did think it was strange that I couldn't find the info online ,like someone said they probably got confused with the family allowance thing. 

I had 49 years of full contributions and did not reach the maximum pension. You need to check the forecast figures.

I have 43 and I am ‘projected’ to receive the full state pension. The projection is based on me making another 7 years’ full contributions. As you say, the forecast figures need to be scrutinised beyond the headline.