Am I Entitled to My Late Father's Pension?

Moonlight1987

Hi everyone,

I need some advice regarding my late father's pension. Before his death, my father told me that he wanted everything to go to me. However, when he passed, I discovered that he changed his will and left his estate to someone else.

Before I knew about the will, I contacted his pension provider and requested the pension pot money. After learning about the will, I wanted to return the money, but I was told twice by the pension provider's employees that I was the rightful beneficiary because I was his only child. They mentioned that if the pension pot was under £5k, they would disregard the will anyway, and the pension would go to me, as no beneficiaries were named with the pension provider.

I also found out that the pension is not part of his estate. However, today, I received a letter from the pension provider stating:

"The recipients of the payment from X's retirement pot following their death were not determined at X's pension provider's discretion. This usually means that the payments are part of X's estate for inheritance tax purposes."

At this point, I'm confused. Should I insist on returning the money, or is it mine to keep? What does this letter mean for my rights to the pension?

Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated!

doodling

Hi,

You are still entitled to the money.

You should pass a copy of the letter to the exexutor of the will because they (not you!) may be liable to pay inheritance tax on it.