Does a state pension pass to spouse??

[Galaxygirl93]

I have recently lost my father this week, he was 61. My mother is 60. She is a house wife, my father worked his whole life.

They have been married for 35 years, can anyone let me know if she can claim his state pension- she will be stuck financially if not.

I don't know what to do.

You do have to prepare your mum though OP, that because she is under retirement age, her benefits will be the same as any one else of working age.

She can get universal credit but she will get a work coach and be expected to attend interviews and get a job. If she doesn't go to interview etc, then she will be sanctioned and docked some money.

If she doesn't want to work then selling the house and buying a small place or moving on with family so she can live off the equity may be the best option.

you mention an accountant
can you speak to the accountant?
or citizen's advice

If she is unfit to work ( op says she has health problems) then she needs to hand in sick notes on Uc and wait to be assessed. She may have some meetings with a work coach but after a close bereavement, any work search commitments should be turned off for at least 6 months i think as per their legislation.

As far as I know she would be ineligible I think .Unless she has pension built up in her own name .You get credits for being at home with DC .However at 60 she would be too young for her state pension .Maybe sickness benefit?

So sorry for your loss @Galaxygirl93 You must be finding this all very stressful.

When my dad died when I was 19, I took my mum to our local Citizens Advice who were excellent and gave us lots of information and leaflets to take away that covered what my mum need to do straight away and what could wait.

Don’t worry about the posters talking about downsizing etc. It’s far to early to be thinking longer term at the moment. Even if your mum is considering moving house, I wouldn’t push her to make any major changes for at least 6 months to allow time for her to carefully consider her future. There’s really no rush.

Agree. The accountant should be the best person to advise what life assurance / personal pension your DF had.

CAB would be worth a visit I think.They have a van that is parked in the Church car park on a Monday morning in our area.I think advice is free,maybe a small donation would be welcome

OP, did your Dad make a will?

Does your Mum know whether he paid into a private pension? The accountant will know.

Your Dad will have a protected State Pension Payment for NI contributions prior to 2017. Your Mum may inherit half of this when she reaches state pension age.
www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/inheriting-or-increasing-state-pension-from-a-spouse-or-civil-partner

This is bad information that could falsely get the OP's hopes up. What you're referring to is an Additional State pension for the elderly (a man born before 1951). It won't apply to the OP's mother.

*Dad's workplace pension (which likely will pass to her, depending on the individual scheme's rules) -
yes, check this out, but remember it will be a percentage of his pension, not the whole thing! Sadly too many women still believe they'll be ok in their older age because their dh has a good occupational pension or is fully paid up for the state pension.

It would usually be a percentage if DB but if DC it is all inheritable.

You need 35-years'-worth for the full state pension which will become due at the age of 67 in your mother's case.
this is also nonsense for someone of the OP’s mother’s age. It’s a really dangerous thing to be regularly stated as it gives a false sense of security and people don’t check their OWN entitlement which varies enormously. You have to be pretty young for the blanket ‘35 years’ contributions’ to be relevant to you.

It is overwhelming. I’d suggest making a list of all the things to look up and tackling them one at a time & keeping a note of what you find on each (otherwise you will forget again!).
e.g.

1. check mum’s SP forecast
2. check bank statements for life insurance DDs

• contact 1
• contact 2

3) check each past employer for pensions

• contact 1
• contact 2

4) contact accountant for private pensions

etc, etc

At some point your mum might consider a PT job until her SP age to help top up both her income and NI contributions- you don’t need to earn much to get NI paid.

We had a similar situation last year, although my parents are slightly older - Dad 66 when he died (although still working), mum 64. My mum claimed the Bereavement support of a lump sum (£2500/£3000?) Then £100 per month which is for 18 months I believe. She won't be able to claim her own state pension until next year.

Most of their income disappeared overnight and it took quite a while to unravel everything. I had to support mum to start with financially (funeral expenses etc) as we weren't sure how long it would take for private pensions/savings etc to be sorted out. It took nearly a year.

I'm very sorry for your loss, the early days are difficult as you will feel that you have to sort everything out for your mum, and there's no time to grieve for yourself. I still don't think I have properly processed my father's death.

I am appalled at the level of pension ignorance on this thread.

2016 marked the end of the cosy old State pension system which gave SAH wives a half or part state pension based on their husband's state pension credits.

For women and men who reach retirement age after 2016, that benefit has gone. We wanted equality; we got it. From 2016, spouses reaching SP age need their own NI credits. (not necessarily from paid employment).

It is another absolute delusion that all mens' "work pensions" protect their widows.

Don't sit back to 60 blithely assuming you'll receive anything from dead, alive or ex husband's work OR state pension.

OP's needs to check her Mum's NI credits for state pension entitlement with the govt pension forecast service already mentioned.

People who don't qualify for State Pension may still be able to claim a different benefit called Pension Credit.

My links failed but if you actually read the gov.uk website Anyone who paid NI prior to 2016 and accrued enough years for the minimum old state pension were in 2016 given a protected pension amount.

gov.uk then states
Inheriting a protected payment
You’ll inherit half of your partner’s protected payment if your marriage or civil partnership with them began before 6 April 2016 and:

their State Pension age is on or after 6 April 2016
they died on or after 6 April 2016
It will be paid with your State Pension.

Thank you princess glittery. For clarity if I die, DH will get half my occupational pension and if I am still working 3 times my salary. If DH dies - he was self employed until 2015 I will life insurance and a small pension. He is now in a state scheme and I would also get 3 times his salary from that and a the spouses pension arising from it.

Husband's get benefits from working wives too. The great scandal has been around same sex relationships.

Princessglittery, do research what "protected payment" actually refers to.

Did she do any childcare for you when you were working? She can claim ni contributions if she did. Specified childcare credits. Explained on Gov gateway
no minimum hours a week required to be able to claim

No state pension doesn't.

You've misunderstood @Princessglittery

She wont inherit his pension. Stop giving out misleading advice to people who actually need to know what they can get.

The protected payment is the difference between the £185 new full pension and anything you accrued before 2016.

If most of your working life was before the 2016 change so you had built up your state pension prior to the change, any amount over £185 is protected. That's the new maximum now, but they didn't want to take money off people from before that. So let's say you had built up a state pension of £200 a week before 2016. The new max is £185, but your extra £15 becomes becomes protected payment and you would have that paid on top of the £185.

She may be able to inherited that protected payment of £15. But she will not inherit his £185 weekly pension.

She will be expected to look for work.

But that's not what will happen here. You have both arranged and pay into pensions which can be passed on. The OP doesn't know if her parents have.

I dont know why you are thanking @Princessglittery because the advice she has given is wrong.

@WeepingSomnambulist how do you know the OPs Dad doesn’t have a protected payment?

You Mum is entitled to the death benefit, it is a monthly payment for the next year or so. She will have to apply for it within 12 weeks of your Dads death

Pension Credit.