What happens to my husband's pension when he dies?

What happens to a pension pot when someone dies?

Most workplace and personal pensions today are defined contribution pots: a sum of money that has been invested. Whatever is left in the pot when he dies can be paid out to someone else. It does not normally pass under his will.

Instead, the scheme's trustees or provider decide who receives it. Most people fill in an expression of wish form naming who they would like to benefit. MoneyHelper explains that providers usually follow it, but they do not have to. So contact every scheme he belonged to as early as you can, because many private and workplace schemes are not told through Tell Us Once.

If you are the beneficiary, you can usually take the money as a lump sum, keep it invested and draw from it, or use it to buy an annuity. How it is taxed turns mainly on his age when he died, according to GOV.UK:

• He died before 75: lump sums and drawdown or annuity income from the pot are usually tax-free, provided the lump sum is paid within 2 years of the provider being told of the death and stays within his lump sum and death benefit allowance.
• He died at 75 or over: whatever you take is added to your income and taxed at your usual rate, with the provider deducting the tax.

Anything you leave in a drawdown fund can itself be passed on, as you can nominate your own beneficiaries for it.

What is a survivor's pension from a final salary scheme?

A defined benefit (final salary or career average) scheme promises an income rather than holding a pot, so there is no fund to hand over. Most of these schemes instead continue paying part of his pension to a survivor. GOV.UK says a pension from a defined benefit scheme can usually only be paid to a dependant, such as a husband, wife, civil partner or a child under 23.

How much you get is set by the scheme's own rules, so the fraction varies from one scheme to another. The scheme booklet or the administrator will tell you the exact figure. If the value is small, MoneyHelper notes it may be paid as a single lump sum where it is under £30,000.

A survivor's pension is taxed as income, whatever age he was, in the same way as any other pension income. If he died while still working for the employer, the scheme may also pay a lump sum, so ask about both.

What happens to an annuity when he dies?

If he had already used a pension pot to buy an annuity, it usually stops when he dies. Two features can keep money coming, and he would have chosen them when he bought it.

A joint-life annuity keeps paying a set proportion of the income to the named person for the rest of their life. A guarantee period keeps the payments going to his beneficiaries until the end of a fixed term, which MoneyHelper says can be up to 30 years, or pays the remaining value as a lump sum. Only people he named when he set it up can receive these payments.

The paperwork from the annuity provider will show which options he took. If he was under 75, any continuing payments are usually tax-free; if he was 75 or older, they are taxed as your income.

Can I inherit my husband's State Pension?

Much less than most people expect. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, and it is based on each person's own National Insurance record. There is no couple's rate, and the basic amount does not pass on.

What you might inherit on top of your own new State Pension, according to GOV.UK, depends on dates:

• He reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016: you inherit half of any "protected payment" he had, as long as your marriage began before 6 April 2016.
• He reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016: you might inherit part of his Additional State Pension, again only if you married before 6 April 2016.
• He had deferred his State Pension and reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016: you may inherit some or all of the extra amount or lump sum.

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 yourself, the older rules may let you use his National Insurance record to raise your basic State Pension, up to the full £184.90 a week. The Pension Service can check what you are due. None of this applies if you remarry or form a civil partnership before you reach State Pension age.

What is Bereavement Support Payment?

Bereavement Support Payment is a separate benefit from the State Pension, and many people miss it. You can get it if your husband, wife or civil partner died while you were under State Pension age, and they had paid National Insurance in at least one tax year since 6 April 1975, or died because of an accident at work or a work-related illness.

There are two rates. The higher rate applies if, when they died, you were getting or entitled to Child Benefit for a child living with you, or were pregnant; otherwise it is the lower rate. Both pay a one-off amount plus 18 monthly payments (see the table below).

Timing matters. Claim within 3 months of the death to get the full amount. After that you lose some of the monthly payments, after 12 months you lose the lump sum, and after 21 months you usually get nothing. You can claim online, by phone or by post, or check what you would get with our calculator.

Will Inheritance Tax be due on his pension?

At the moment, usually not. GOV.UK explains that a pension lump sum does not normally count for Inheritance Tax because the trustees decide who gets it.

That changes for deaths on or after 6 April 2027. The Finance Act 2026 brings most unused pension funds and death benefits into the estate for Inheritance Tax, and the person dealing with the estate becomes responsible for reporting and paying any tax due. Some things are left out: death-in-service benefits and survivor's pensions from final salary schemes stay outside Inheritance Tax.

For a widow or widower the practical effect is often small, because the government has confirmed that death benefits passing to a surviving spouse or civil partner stay exempt. It matters more for pension money left to children or other relatives.

Bereavement Support Payment and State Pension, 2026/27

Source: GOV.UK — Bereavement Support Payment: what you'll get

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