Inherited state pension for widows and widowers

The purpose of this website is to help you understand how much state pension you are entitled to inherit if your spouse or civil partner has died. The site can also be used by those who would like to understand what they would inherit if their spouse were to die before them.

The site can also tell you how much state pension you will inherit on top of your own state pension when you reach pension age (or when you are widowed, if this is later). If you are currently under pension age you can find out what support you are entitled to now here: Bereavement Support Payment: How it works.

What matters for these purposes is whether or not you are/were legally married (or in a civil partnership), so these rules still apply even if you were separated.

Equally, none of these rules apply to couples who live together outside marriage (or civil partnership), no matter how long this has been the case.

The rules for those who are/were married and those who are/were in Civil Partnerships are the same, so for brevity from now on we will simply refer to marriage.

Before going any further, we need to set out some special rules which apply to a small group of women. These are women who:

Opted to pay what is often called the ‘married woman’s stamp’ – a lower rate of National Insurance contributions – when they were in work AND
Were still eligible to pay the ‘married woman’s stamp’ 35 years before they reached state pension age AND
Were born after 5th April 1953

If you satisfy all three tests, click here for the special rules which apply to you. If not, carry on with the rest of the site.

Disclaimer: Please note that you are providing your data on an anonymous basis; LCP does not store any of the personal data you input. You should always seek independent financial or legal advice before making any financial or investment decisions. LCP does not provide any warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured on this page.

FAQs

What happens if I remarry?

A person who reaches pension age as a widow / widower is entitled to a pension derived from his/her late spouse’s contributions as described on this site. A subsequent (post-retirement) marriage does not take away this entitlement.

A person who is widowed before pension age and remarries before pension age loses any rights to claim a state pension on the basis of their late former spouse’s contributions.

The only exception to this is that a working age widow who is set to benefit from the transitional protection for those on the new state pension who paid the ‘married woman’s stamp’ would still be able to claim a ‘married woman’s’ pension if she remarries before pension age.

What happens if my ex-husband / ex-wife dies?

The death of an ex-spouse has no impact on your state pension position.

This is because:

For those on the old system who are divorced when they retire, the ex-spouse’s contributions are used to work out their state pension at that point; the ex-spouse’s death does not change this;
For those on the old system who divorce post-retirement, DWP should be notified of the divorce and their state pension should be reassessed at that point; the ex-spouse’s subsequent death does not change this;
For those on the new system, the ability to derive a pension from an ex spouse has been abolished (with the exception of the special transitional rules for certain women who paid the ‘reduced stamp’).

What happens if my spouse deferred taking a state pension?

If your spouse reached pension age, deferred taking their pension and died before claiming it, you may be able to inherit some of their pension. The way in which you inherit depends on whether they came under the old or new state pension system:

If your late spouse died during a period of pension deferral and came under the old state pension system, you should have a choice between inheriting the pension payments they never received as a taxable lump sum or in the form of a higher regular pension (‘inherited extra state pension’); this is in addition to any other inheritance as set out on this site;
If your late spouse came under the new state pension system and dies during a period of deferral, the rules on what a surviving spouse can receive are set out here: Delay (defer) your State Pension: Inheriting a deferred State Pension. This is in addition to any other inheritance as set out on this site.

Special provisions for women who paid the ‘married woman’s stamp’

Women who paid the reduced stamp will very often have a poor pension in their own right. Had the state pension system not been reformed in 2016, such women would have expected to derive a state pension from their husband, late husband or ex husband’s contributions. As ‘derived’ state pension rights have largely been abolished under the new system, special transitional protection has been built in for women who were still paying the reduced stamp 35 years before they reached pension age. The pension payable to a woman who satisfies these conditions and is a widow will be:

A full old-style ‘basic’ state pension, PLUS
Any ‘additional’ state pension (SERPS) which she may have built up in her own right in years when she was not paying the reduced rate, PLUS
If your spouse built up entitlement to ‘additional’ state pension (often called SERPS) prior to 2002, you can inherit at least 50% of this amount; however, depending on the date of birth of your spouse, this percentage may be anything up to 100% - a table of dates and percentages can be found at: Additional State Pension: Inheriting Additional State Pension.

You should be aware however that some spouses will have built up little or no additional pension. This would be particularly likely if:

They were in a ‘contracted out’ workplace pension, from which you now receive a survivor’s pension OR
They were self-employed, as self-employed NI contributions did not generate any entitlement to additional state pension). PLUS
If your spouse built up entitlement to the State Second Pension between 2002 and 2016, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount; PLUS
If your spouse built up entitlement to Graduated Retirement Benefit between 1961 and 1975, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount.

This transitional rate is paid in cases where the new state pension you would otherwise get produces a lower figure than the transitional rate.