Private Pension Death Lump Sum

ChampagneKisses

Hello,

My Dad had a private pension, of whom I contacted after his death over a year ago.

They paid out one third of this to myself, as I have 2 other sisters of whom I have no relationship with. The company also have no contact details for them, so no way to get in contact.

Can anyone advise what happens to the other 2 thirds of the Death Lump Sum if no contact is made with them?

Regards,
CK

sammyjammy

The pension company will retain it, is there no way you can contact them at all, it can be as brief as contact xxx

ChampagneKisses

Hi Sammy,

I don’t have any contact with them and I’d rather not. 

I would go as far to say that I’d rather the pension company retained the money than give it to them, haha.

Thanks for your response x

p00hsticks

ChampagneKisses said:

I would go as far to say that I’d rather the pension company retained the money than give it to them, haha.

The pension company will retain it for the present but I imagine the money be ring fenced while they make efforts to track down and locate your sisters - they can't just arbitrarily say 'we don;t know where to find them so we'll keep it ourselves' 

Andy_L

ChampagneKisses said:

Hi Sammy,

I don’t have any contact with them and I’d rather not. 

I would go as far to say that I’d rather the pension company retained the money than give it to them, haha.

Thanks for your response x

Do you have no contact details for them or do you just avoid them?

Were you the executor of his will?

If you were than you have a legal duty to ensure the correct distribution of his assets. IMO that would include ensuring any pension goes to those entitled to it. 

Silvertabby

Pension lump sum death benefits are only tax free if paid out within 2 years.

The pension provider won't want to deal with possible complaints from your sisters if they fail to make payment within this period, resulting in their shares being much less than they could have been.

Were you able to supply the pension provider with your sisters' full names, dates of birth, and where they were born?  If so, they will use their own tracing service to try to find them.

MEM62

The pension company will make some effort to trace them.  If the amount is significant they will throw a reasonable amount of resources at it.   

gravel_2

What happened to any other assets in the estate? It should all have been split 3 ways...

dunstonh

Can anyone advise what happens to the other 2 thirds of the Death Lump Sum if no contact is made with them?

They will employ a tracing company.

Andy_L

gravel_2 said:

What happened to any other assets in the estate? It should all have been split 3 ways...

Depends on what the will says

Marcon

Andy_L said:

gravel_2 said:

What happened to any other assets in the estate? It should all have been split 3 ways...

Depends on what the will says

Doubt it. Normally on death the pension provider (for a defined contribution scheme) will have used their discretion as to the recipient(s), guided by any expression of wish form the member completed. Sounds as if that's what's happened here.