Died before state pension age

[DontStopMeNow1]

Can anyone advise on this please?

My friend's husband died three years ago at 60 years old, so well before retirement age. What will happen to the contributions he made to his state pension during his lifetime? Will my friend be able to claim them?

I've googled this lots of times, but don't seem to be able to find the answer!

I'd ask citizens advice or age uk

I don’t know the answer but I’m commenting to follow because I’m curious. Hopefully someone will come along with some knowledge.

Your friend should just call up the Pensions Helpline - there are some circumstances where surviving spouses can inherit half of a state pension

Mostly the answer is no, the state pension is allocated to the individual, and when they sadly pass before state pension age there is no way for a spouse to claim this money.
State pension also stops when you die, if you have reached state pension age and are claiming it.

workplace and private pensions have a clause where the spouse or other nominated person, can claim a percentage of the pension.

https://www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension/inheriting

You don't make contributions per se to your state pension, so it's not like you're building a pot like a workplace or private pension, where you can also leave that money to a beneficiary. You might make voluntary contributions to plug a gap, but it's the younger generations that pay for the state pension.

My dad died 2 years ago, 7 months before he would have got his pension and it was just lost. There was something to do with contributions being made years before but my mum hadn't done it so it was all gone. His private pension paid though.

Unfortunately your state pension dies with you.
I’ve always thought it massively unfair that working people pay in a significant amount all their life and then it just goes back into the pot to pay out for someone else if they die before they reach retirement age.
Having a personal pension is different, it’s your pot of money and can be passed on to whoever you wish in your Will.

There's no pot of money for State pensions. The NI contributions people pay go straight out again paying the pensions that other people are receiving. You build up a contribution record for a future entitlement but if you die before becoming eligible for that pension, nothing gets paid to you.

If there are private or company pensions though then usually something will be paid.
It depends on the specific pension though and whether he had started to receive the income or not.

Your best course of action is to contact the employers/pension providers and get specific details.

She can claim bereavement allowance (not sure what it's called). It's for 2 years I think.

But the contributions would have been made because that person hadn't actually paid enough national insurance during their lifetime, meaning they hadn't paid enough qualifying years for the full state pension. You're not building a pot, you're building entitlement to the full state pension - it's essentially a benefit.

I agree it doesn't seem fair but it will seem even less fair if (or when) we reach the stage that the state pension becomes means tested.

You don't get a thing. My mum died 11 days before hers was due to start last year. Its just gone, it likely wasn't even there anyway the government invest or use it and lost alot of it. They rely on the money continuously coming in and people dying and not claiming it to pay it out. Its why they keep putting the pension age up.

My uncle retired on the Friday. His first sp was to be paid on the Tuesday.
Unfortunately he died on the Saturday.
It was too late to stop the payment so my aunt had to pay it back.

I understand it's a £3.5k lump sum and £350 per month for 18 months. I claimed it on someone's behalf and the payments to them cease in June this year.

No your friend can’t claim it, a pot doesn’t exist. It’s the same as everyone paying in loads for the benefit system and not claiming benefits, you don’t get money back for that either as the money goes to those who do need it and claim for it.

My Dad died 3 years ago. Mum was on her own pension , but it increased quite a bit because of entitlement that Dad had built up somewhere. Would enquire with dwp or citizens advice. Mum now on much more than basic and it is not pension credit

You don’t build up a pot with state pension, it’s funded on a PAYG basis so current workforce are paying for the current pensioners. So I don’t think they’ll be entitled to anything.

If they have a private or workplace pension then there should be a way to access that money.

That's why the component of tax we pay which was originally for pensions, healthcare and other situation-dependent benefits was called 'National Insurance'.

Your friend may be entitled to increased payments when she becomes entitled to her own pension, built up from her late husband's SERPS or SSP contributions if he didn't contract out to a private or company pension but I think it's only if she is entitled to the old state pension (pre 2016) not the new one, so given her husband's age and when he died, it's probably unlikely.
If she is not entitled to a full state pension on her own contributions, she may be able to claim his contributions to do so.
Many older women who didn't pay full NI contributions often due to childcare, have missed out on increased payments and only received tiny pensions because its not paid automatically, you have to claim it.
Definitely worth an enquiry to future Pensions Centre to find out.

There is a transferable entitlement if you paid serps but that won't apply to many people now.

My dad died 30 years ago well before state pension age . My mum got her pension last year she gets quite a bit extra due to my dad's contributions. She didn't realise she'd get anything from dad's until she had a letter about it just before her own state pension started

No, there is no benefit in these circumstances. This is because the state pension is unfunded- the current taxpayers pay for the current pensioners. As opposed to building up your own personal pot. Most countries' state pension schemes work like this.

There still seems to be a huge and general misunderstanding around state pensions. People paying NI aren’t paying into a personal pot for when they retire; they’re paying into the pot that funds today’s pensioners, as well as maternity and sickness benefits, JSA, ESA etc etc, and they’re only building up an entitlement to those same benefits in the future. I hear so much of “I’ve paid in all my life, I’m entitled to that money back”. You’re absolutely not, it’s not how it works.

Not quite - it depends on age. I think it’s unlikely in this case but some older pensioners can definitely inherit.

This is a good guide

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/benefits/benefits-in-later-life/state-pension-death-benefits

This isn't quite true - you don't leave your private pension in your will. It sits outside of your estate. You nominate a beneficiary for your private pension, who will receive it if you die. This could be someone named in your will, or not. But it's important to make sure you have beneficiaries named for any pensions you have, because it is handled separately to the rest of your affairs.