Death Pension Payment

[Gordan21]

Hi could any one please help me
My father died suddenly and he had a private pension pot.The pension company have wrote to me saying that his pension should be paid to me and my half sister.I have no contact with my half sister and I believe her to be about 10 years old.Her mother who was once married to my father has disappeared with her.The pension company asked me to send my Id in to them and bank details in which I have and they have sent this back.This was over 2 weeks ago.When I called them asking about when I should be receiving my half of the pension they said to me that they are waiting for correspondence from the other person,that being my sister.Before they can pay me.My question is what if they can not find or trace her,as we have tried .As I’m sure that her mother would have sent this to them straight away.Would they still pay my half and if so how long will I have to wait.My father died nov 2016,so it’s been just over a year now.Any help on this I would be grateful for
Many thanks

[woofgang]

You need to ask the pension managers those questions. Within the law, different private pensions have different rules and processes

[mikey4444]

Woofy is right. But if you and your half-sister are the only two recipients, that the pension company will have to ascertain if both are still alive, before paying out to either of you.

If the half-sister's family is proving difficult to trace, you may be in for a long wait. Are you sure that the Pension company know where to contact your Dad's ex-wife ?

[woofgang]

I don’t think there is anything in law to prevent the pension managers paying out to beneficiaries before all have responded. Any unclaimed shares can be placed in a holding account BUT of course they would want to be sure that there are no claimants that they aren’t aware of so that they don’t pay out to much. In any case, as I said, they will have their own policies and you need to ask them.

[mikey4444]

Can I just remind people about the duties of Pension Scheme Trustees.

It is their duty to make sure that the wishes of a Pension Scheme member is carried after his/her death. The person who was the next of kin at the time of the vesting, ie the person nominated to receive any death benefit when the Member dies, may not be around when that death occurs. So, any nomination has to be discretionary.

So in the case of Gordan's dad, the Trustees still have to hunt around for the appropriate person, or persons that may be ready to receive any benefit.

So....to repeat myself Gordan....you may be in for a long wait.

[woofgang]

Yes but within that, they have discretion...also not all pension schemes have the same rules. Some limit where any pension can pass to one the pension has begun, some will give discretionary lump sums if the pension has only been drawn for a short while. Some will pay out whatever is due to individual beneficiaries before all have been contacted provided they are sure that they know who all the beneficiaries are. Again, I say that the only people who can answer the OP’s questions are the plan managers.