Private Pension won't pay

Angelcraft71

Hello
I wanted advice as my partner of 25 years recently passes away. He had an American private Pension which he was receiving and filled in the expression of wish form which had me down to receive the pension as I was his power of attorney and next of kin and his common law wife and sole beneficiary on his will. The problem is he never got divorced, but was financially separated from his wife over 30 years ago and has had no contact with her since so I can't find even if still alive. The pension people won't payout to me. 
What can I do legally to solve this problem as don't know where to turn. Any advice be gratefully received. Thanks

xylophone

 The pension people won't payout to me. 

On what grounds?

p00hsticks

I'm sorry for your loss. 

Can you clarify what you mean by saying he was receiving his pension ? and what form exactly this 'American Private Pension' took ?
 
Was he getting a monthly sum from it ? If so it sounds like it's either a defined benefit (DB) pension, or he's used a Defined Contribution (DC) Pension to purchase an annuity.

As far as I'm aware 'Next of kin' and 'Common Law wife' have no legal meaning in England or Wales, and the PoA will have ceased on his death. In this country (UK) Pensions usually fall outside of a persons estate. 

If the Pension is a DC one with a remaining pot then the trustees of the Pension may have a limited amount of discretion as to who they decide the funds should go to, but there are likely to be strict rules in the Pension Scheme about who, if any one, is entitled to a survivors pension if it was a DB Pension. (This is precisely why I married my long tern partner just before I retired, to ensure that he would get a pension from me if I died before him). 

Ayr_Rage

Where is the pension scheme based?

You'll need a professional that can deal with the trustees of the scheme and the law applicable to the "American Private Pension".

Edit : When your partner filled in his "expression of wishes" form did he state that he wished you to benefit even though he was estranged from his wife but had never divorced?

JoeCrystal

Sorry to be bearer of bad news but if he never divorced then to all intentions and purposes, his wife is still his legal spouse and therefore get all the benefits. There are no such as things as common law wife so you should give up on that concept immediately. It is a very bad myth that still stuck around, especially cohabiting couples are lot more common these days and people seem to think there are laws protecting their 'rights'.

QrizB

Angelcraft71 said:

The pension people won't payout to me. 
What can I do legally to solve this problem as don't know where to turn.

As above, the pension people will pay out in accordance with the rules of the scheme and the laws applicable in the country where the pension scheme is based.

Perhaps one of our regular US contributors like @Bostonerimus1 could let us know how US pension schemes would typically handle this?

DRS1

Being the designated beneficiary could trump being the legal spouse if the American pension is a 401K plan but we don't know if it is.  As someone said if the pension is in payment then different rules may apply.  The OP needs to check the terms of the pension to see what is what.  For all we know the partner bought a single life annuity which terminated on his death.

Marcon

Ayr_Rage said:

You'll need a professional that can deal with the trustees of the scheme and the law applicable to the "American Private Pension".

Depending on the amount involved, that may not be a realistic option - and if the scheme is simply sticking to its own rules, it'll be a pointless one.

xylophone said:

 The pension people won't payout to me. 

On what grounds?

This is the answer you should be paying attention to. I'd be asking two questions:

• could you please have a copy of the scheme rules
• could the scheme clarify the basis on which they are declining to pay any benefits to you, given your relationship to the deceased and the documentary evidence he left confirming he wished you to be the beneficiary of his pension.

There is no guarantee the scheme will provide either, but that's the best starting point if you've not yet done so. However, even that action may be surperfluous depending on the type of pension concerned. The best explanation I could find online of why that could be so is here: https://irahelp.com/in-erisa-retirement-plans-spouse-beneficiaries-rule/.  To save you reading the whole thing, here is the salient point (my emboldening/underlining):

At Ed Slott and Company, we continually stress how important the beneficiary designation form is. Because it’s that form – and not the retirement account owner’s will or other estate planning documents – that usually dictates who will receive the owner’s IRA or 401(k) account after death.

But, as a recent case shows, for ERISA plans, there is one rule that trumps the beneficiary designation form: The spousal beneficiary rule. That rule says that a married ERISA plan participant’s 401(k) balance must automatically be paid to his surviving spouse after death – unless the participant names another beneficiary and the spouse consents to the non-spouse beneficiary.

If your partner hadn't been in touch with his wife since they parted 30 years ago, and his pension is covered by the above, I suspect that's why the pension scheme cannot pay out to you.

Fermion

I wonder if the US has a beneficiary condition similar to  the new rule that came into force in the UK last year? - viz. that the beneficiary must be a UK resident and have a UK bank account to be a DC pension beneficiary. So in this case a US citizen with a US bank account

My wife's cousin completed  an "expression of wishes"  form with HL for his DC pot naming his brother's widow as the beneficiary however we found out that is not viable as she is not a UK national and can't get a UK bank account.

eastcorkram

Fermion said:

I wonder if the US has a beneficiary condition similar to  the new rule that came into force in the UK last year? - viz. that the beneficiary must be a UK resident and have a UK bank account to be a DC pension beneficiary. So in this case a US citizen with a US bank account

My wife's cousin completed  an "expression of wishes"  form with HL for his DC pot naming his brother's widow as the beneficiary however we found out that is not viable as she is not a UK national and can't get a UK bank account.

I wasn't aware of this. My expression of wish with HL names my children, both currently in their 30s, neither of which live in the UK. Does this mean they won't receive it? If so, who would? 

dunstonh

eastcorkram said:

Fermion said:

I wonder if the US has a beneficiary condition similar to  the new rule that came into force in the UK last year? - viz. that the beneficiary must be a UK resident and have a UK bank account to be a DC pension beneficiary. So in this case a US citizen with a US bank account

My wife's cousin completed  an "expression of wishes"  form with HL for his DC pot naming his brother's widow as the beneficiary however we found out that is not viable as she is not a UK national and can't get a UK bank account.

I wasn't aware of this. My expression of wish with HL names my children, both currently in their 30s, neither of which live in the UK. Does this mean they won't receive it? If so, who would? 

There is no rule in the UK that requires the beneficiaries of a DC pension to be UK residents.

The only issue is that residency can impact the ability to set up beneficiary drawdown plans.   For example, the EU does not allow the retail of UK financial products to EU residents unless the firm has a physical office in the country where the EU resident is (or there is EU passporting permissions from their EU branch).    The majority of UK pension providers do not.     

However, its not impossible as there are several distribution channels that cater for expats.  Its just a limited choice.

Some non-UK residents may just go for the whole fund value rather than beneficiary drawdown if the death occurred before 75, as it's easier.