Pension after death?

Sarahspangles

Bat125 said:

If your marital status was ‘divorced’ when you reached state pension age, you may be able to benefit from the National Insurance Contributions of your ex husband. (In the event that you married more than once, it would be the NI Contributions of your ‘most recent’ ex husband which would be relevant). 

The State Pension was originally set up so that if a man reached State Pension Age before 6 April 2016 their widow could inherit some pension. Many women didn’t work, or paid the reduced married women’s stamp in the past. This entitlement could still remain in place if a couple divorced, because there was no way to transfer the entitlement.

However as your father died so young, sadly, I don’t think it applies. He wasn’t state pension age by 2021. If your mother was quite a few years older than him it’s worth investigating further.

With your father’s defined benefit pension, it depends on how the scheme was set up. There aren’t many scenarios where a divorced woman would be entitled to a payment. Normally, a divorce settlement will ‘even up’ property and pensions so the couple can make a clean break. If they didn’t sort out their finances at the time, the scheme rules may still consider your mother is entitled and I think this is what your solicitor suggested. But you’d need to know the details of the scheme, they vary a lot.

People used to take out life insurance in addition to paying into a pension to cover the scenario where they died at a younger age. But this was optional.

Sarahspangles

By the way, if your dad passed away in 2021, wasn’t all this looked at by his executor(s)? Although payments from life insurance pensions don’t normally fall into the estate the notifications to pension providers and dealing with any entitlement are dealt with at that time.

Bat125

We did the tell them once service. But the owness is on us not them to trace it. 

Bat125

And yes. It falls out of probate. The PPF, which it is now in… do pay widows and even divorcees 

Flugelhorn

Bat125 said:

We did the tell them once service. But the owness is on us not them to trace it. 

"tell us once" only informs state pension and public sector pension schemes

Aretnap

Bat125 said:

And yes. It falls out of probate. The PPF, which it is now in… do pay widows and even divorcees 

The PPF pays for the liabilities of insolvent pension schemes - which might include payments to widows and even divorcees. However if the original pension scheme would not have made any payments to your mother, the PPF won't either.

dunstonh

And yes. It falls out of probate. The PPF, which it is now in… do pay widows and even divorcees 

Paying divorcees under pension credit is possible with the PPF, but it is not the same as paying the divorcee an income.   If the divorce settlement never used the pension as part of the settlement, then pension credit wouldn't come into play and the ex wife would have no call on that pension.

Widows would expected to be paid under a defined benefit scheme entering the PPF.    The thing with defined benefit schemes is that they pay out on the range of defined benefits agreed with the employee.    There is no pension fund for the employee.  The employee gets the defined benefits.  No more. no less.