Old State Pension

JSL_2

Hello, My Father passed away recently and now helping mother sort out financial matters.
Mother says he was receiving approx £970 per 4 weeks, from his state pension, which seems to be a lot more than the basic old state pension . He had also a DB Pension of around 10.5K , Which he paid some tax on.  Mother doesn't get the full SP , Only around 6k PA, assumning she had not enough NI Contributions. She did say he was paying extra payments, not sure where.

Would/Could this have been extra NI Contributions ?

Will Mother be entitled to anymore SP now , from what father was getting above the basic pension?

Should she be entitled to more SP now she is widowed ?

She won't qualify for any benefits , as has some other investments.

Any Help Appreciated.

molerat

She did say he was paying extra payments, not sure where.

Would/Could this have been extra NI Contributions ?

Maybe she bought some additional years or made class 3A contributions.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-top-up-class-3a-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

Will Mother be entitled to anymore SP now , from what father was getting above the basic pension?

Should she be entitled to more SP now she is widowed ?

(Assuming both were pre 2016 pensioners) Yes.  She will likely be entitled to the full basic pension plus half of any additional pension plus any additional pension of her own. It is fairly complicated.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/inheritance-spouse-civil-partner

german_keeper

Sorry for your loss. Has the death been reported through Tell Us Once? My FIL died in December last year. He also had an old state pension with "extras" added on. We reported his death via Tell Us Once and within a week or so a letter arrived with full details of my MIL inherited pension. I was able to compare the amounts on this letter with the annual uprating letter FIL had received in February last year and work out the percentages. We were very impressed with the service. Hopefully that's the norm, not the exception.

Just as a general point, we found the service we received from all organisations, banks, pension providers, DWP etc. was very good. The only one who seemed to struggle a bit was the energy supplier and all they had to do was change the name on the account! I hope you and your mother have a similar experience.  

Linton

Perhaps you will find a State Pension statement amongst your father's papers which should explain how his SP was calculated.  Pre 2016 state pensions can be complicated, but many people will have received well above the "basic".

xylophone

Your late father should have received a  DWP letter (Feb/March) detailing the makeup of his SP.

Presumably DWP has been advised  that he has died.

It seems that both parents reached SPA pre 6 /4/16.

Your mother is likely to be eligible to receive a full basic on his contributions, and a proportion of his Additional State Pension, 

See (p21 onwards)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a758e27e5274a6faebebd94/derived-inherited-entitlement.pdf 

A full basic SP is currently £169.50.

JSL_2

Thanks for all the replies, very much appreciated, the information and links is very helpful !

SacredStephan

JSL_2 said:

He had also a DB Pension of around 10.5K

Your Mother might be entitled to a survivors pension.