unmarried / pension advice please

[Greatcheeser]

Hello I wondered if anyone could help with some advice...

We are not married. I earn c. 70k and my partner 30k. I have a reasonable pension scheme at work, but I joined late and it is quite a small sum.
If we're retired and I die, does my pension die with me? Or will partner have any benefits due? Should we marry to protect Partner's interests?

(I'll take the pithy comments re marriage as read thanks now :)

Depends on the rules of the pension scheme as far as I know. Look at your paperwork/online to find out.

When you retire, you can accept a lower monthly payment in return for the payment going to someone else for the rest of their lives when you die. Typically that's a spouse. Check with your HR team if you'd be allowed to do this with an unmarried partner.

what sort of arrangement are you in? Is it money purchase/defined contribution?

@MissConductUS that's not entirely true. Depends on the scheme rules and what retirement options someone takes.

OP, it's important to find out the type of scheme you are in.

You need to firstly understand if you are in a trust based scheme or a contract based scheme.

If it's trust based, you will need to understand the scheme rules.

If you are in a contract based scheme, it depends on how you take your retirement income (annuity or drawdown)

Each scheme has its own rules

Depends entirely on the pension - your scheme administrator should be able to tell you this information.

You can usually add a nominated partner, but again it is depends on the scheme