State Pension

[feebletoe1492]

will I automatically get half of my wife's state pension if she dies.. if we are of both pension age and have both paid full national insurance cintributions

[Buenchico]

As I read it, the answer is 'No':
https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/the-state-pension/death-benefits

[david small]

No. If your wife was in a pension scheme at work, such as the NHS pension, then yes. But state pension, No.

[tamborine]

According to the blue section on link, you will inherit part of spouses pension & can claim bereavement benefit.

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/the-state-pension/death-benefits

[fiction-factory]

How old are you and your wife please? Maybe you are on some old legacy pension where there used to be a figure for single poeple and one for couples but I thought it was just paid per person now.

[fiction-factory]

I'm not sure the blue section applies in this case tambo wher eboth already have paid full contributions and get teh full pension presumably, but it is worth asking Age UK or CAB

[fiction-factory]

"Reached your SPA before 6 April 2016
When you die, some of your State Pension entitlements may pass to your widow, widower or surviving civil partner.

Basic State Pension - Your spouse or civil partner may be entitled to some basic state pension based on your National Insurance (NI) contributions but only if they have not already built up a full basic state pension from their own NI contributions record. When you die, your spouse or civil partner can apply for your National Insurance record to be used instead of their own, so this will only help them if your record is more complete than theirs"

[woofgang]

As I understand it, its a legacy thing that is no longer allowed to new claimants so the answer is both yes and no. It was one of those things that used only to apply to women and was stopped when the women’s pensionable age changes started but they may have changed their minds again and may cgange yet again in the future, also it may be different if its serps and not state pension. Not sure if its all settled down now but a couple of years ago when I was trying to get a forecast for mine, it was changing from week to week and I basically got told, yes you can get a credit from your husbands contributions, no you can’t, and then we won’t be able to tell you till you actually claim.

[feebletoe1492]

Well thanks guys.. looks like a no... we have a few years yet I'm 58 my wife is 54...we have both done in excess of 35 years each. somebody said we can claim half of a state pension if one of us dies...

[woofgang]

state pension is capped anyway so if you have both done your qualifying years I am afraid that's that. If you defer drawing it you can get more but that's currently the only way....of course things may well change again by that time......

[Buenchico]

If you've not yet reached pension age then you definitely won't be able to inherit your wife's pension. State pensions ceased to be inheritable from 6 April 2016. (There are some transitional arrangements but they will have expired by the time you reach pension age).

[feebletoe1492]

***.. what a sauce