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.

@Princessglittery

You said she could inherit half of her husband's old state pension. That is not true.

The protected payment is a small amount. Anything over £185, minus the £185.

It is a small amount and she will only get half.

Dont start pretending that you knew that it was onto half of a small amount. Your post clearly implied she'd get half of the whole lot.

It was misleading and dangerous adive to give out when someone actually needs answers.

@WeepingSomnambulist I am well aware of what state pension changes occurred in 2016. I have spent much of my time since 2015 advising everyone who was contracted out to check their state pension entitlement.

Many people confidently tell me “I’ve got 35 years so I will get the full pension” not realising about the impact of the 2016 changes.

The OP is clearly worried about her Mums income and neither she or her Mum, you or I, know what her Dads state pension entitlement actually is.

Whilst the money involved may be small or, even nil, it is still worth investigating as it may still help OPs Mum when they are worried about every penny

But that is not what your post said.

The OP clearly has no idea. What you typed did not give a clear understanding. You essentially told her she could get half his pension.

You did not highlight protected payment and what that actually means.

If you've spent much of your time advising people, then you should be better at it. Your post was misleading and not at all helpful on a practical way.

OPs mum is 60. The 35 years will apply to them (woman born after 1953)
www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

But agree with PP. OP needs to help her mum explore working age benefits. She may already be on some benefits. She may be entitled to PIP if she has long term health conditions.

Bereavement support payment.

I literally copied and pasted what the gov.uk website states as follows:

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.

@OP
sorry your thread got disrailled.

@Princessglittery

You said he would have a protected payment for contributions made before 2017, then you posted the info of how half of that could be inherited.

Posting that info to someone who doesn't know anything sounds like they'll get half of whatever pension he had earned up to 2017.

You didnt post the information on what a protected payment actually is. You didnt post the passage above that on the gov site which says that she is not eligible to inherit his full pension.

If you're going to give advice which include throwing terms like protected payment around then you need to give context. Your context was "he'll have a protected payment for his contributions before 2017."

So I'll say it again, what you posted was misleading and other have had to come in and clean it up.

Your Mum will not qualify for State Pension in her own right and your Dad's state pension died with him. Your Mum could try claiming PIP if poor health. If she has to claim UC they will hound her to apply for a job. Maybe see her GP and stress any health issues. If 60 she will have to get a job for 7 years and pay NICs. She could also pay additional NICs for up to 6 years then might get some state pension, at 67 then she might be able to claim pension credit. Go to job centre with her and ask for review for her of any entitlement she may have. If self employed your Dad may not have private pension. He has left your Mum in precarious situation and selling house and renting might be her best option.

God such poor advice.
She will not be hounded to find a job straight away - DWP's own legislation gives people who have been bereaved of a close relative at least 6 months off easements on work commitments.
Secondly if she is in poor health, she hands in sick notes and waits to be assessed for work capability.
Why would she want to rent when she has the security of her own home and no mortgage - she would not then be entitled to any universal credit as she would have savings over 16k and would have to pay all her own rent !
As it stands at the moment if she were to claim UC she would get the standard allowance plus maybe extra if awarded Limited capability for work and work related activity, plus potentially PIP depending if disabled, plus council tax reduction, plus bereavement support payment and all this would likely be just about enough to manage on with no mortgage.
Op please just ignore some of the advice on this thread. Speak to Age Uk, CAB or similar.

I meant potentially 50% of the occupational pension, not the state pension. Apologies.

We are the same age as the op's parents. It's a minefield because so many legislative changes have taken place since 1988. However, I recall reading somewhere that if retirement takes place after 2016 there is an entitlement to about half the spouses state pension. I could be wrong.

Ah it's 50% of the additional state pension so 50% of about £30 per week.

OP, DF was 61, so not in receipt of State pension.

If she has very limited pension savings then she should be entitled to pension credit

Op's mum has six or seven years left until she can claim Pension credit. She is 61. Pension credit cannot be claimed until state pension age.

I am so sorry for your loss. My Dad died suddenly 4 years ago at 66, when my Mum was 63. We called the Gov. Pensions to check, as she has been making over payments to bring her contributions up. They told her not to, as she would be entitled to Dads State Pension to 'top up' hers. So she didn't not make the overpayments. I then continued to check - it turned out the rules had been changed, and she was not entitled to Dads. And had missed the deadline to top hers up. Their excuse - 'rules keep changing, how are we meant to keep up with it all'. She will get extra support through pension credit etc. But a lot will depend on savings / owned or rented home. I would suggest she tries an appointment with Citizens Advice initially. Sending love and good luck xx

OP this must be a very difficult time for you but your mother is only 60, two years younger than me. Surely she is able to take responsibility for her finances and not rely solely on you to do so.

There will be a way forward and it is important to support your mother but equally important for all your sakes to support her to be independent for as long as possible.

rosesand hellebores

I recall reading somewhere that if retirement takes place after 2016 there is an entitlement to about half the spouses state pension. I could be wrong.

You are wrong.

www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Basic-State-Pension/What-if-I-don-t-qualify

Am I mistaken but doesn't the link cover the position my mother is in and therefore she can claim some basic pension??

Oh sorry I've just realised it's for people before 2016.

Sorry, just trying to research

My dad passed when he was 58 and my mum was 48.

She turned pension age last year and they worked out that she is entitled to just over 13 pounds a week of his pension in addition to her own so sadly no, she won't get his full pension.

If she is under the full state pension amount she will however be entitled to pension credit to top that amount up. This in turn makes her eligible to obtain help from other places that other pension age pension age pensioners do not (free TV licence at 75, help towards dental and eye tests etc)

35 years is not relevant to everyone born after 1953. It is qualifying years and the only way to know how many qualifying years you have earned is to check your personal forecast. on gov.uk. Please, please do not quote 35 years NI needed, it is more than that for an awful lot of people & they all get a shock when they finally check and discover their 40+ years working and paying NI is not enough for a full SP.

She’s got 7 years until she’s at pension age so that’s 7 years she can work now. She should be able to save a bit as she has no mortgage.

So sorry for your loss OP, I know it must be difficult to deal with a sudden change in circumstances, and it's great to plan ahead for when your mum does retire, but I think it's probably not that helpful to spend too much time right now focusing on pensions as neither of your parents were of pensionable age. It would be more beneficial to focus on working age benefits, bearing in mind the threshold for 'unfit to work' is fairly high and your mum may be expected to look for work.

@2bazookas indeed and I hopped back on to say so.