Yes, you can leave your The People’s Pension (a defined contribution plan) to your daughter by naming her as a beneficiary, which allows her to inherit the remaining savings as a lump sum or income. To ensure your wishes are followed, you must complete a "nomination of beneficiary" form, as pensions are generally not covered by a Will.
While most pensions are designed to provide income only to the retiree and their spouse, there are limited circumstances where children may qualify for benefits. More often, children inherit wealth through other retirement accounts like 401(k)s, IRAs or Roth IRAs.
The good news is that, yes, it is possible to shift your pension funds to any designated family members or other beneficiaries. If you have looked into this in the past, you may have heard about a 55% pension “death tax”. Fortunately, this has been left in the past – it was abolished by the government back in 2015.
Yes, a child can sometimes collect a deceased parent's pension, especially if they are a minor, a full-time student (usually up to age 22), or have a qualifying disability, but it depends heavily on the specific pension plan's rules (defined-benefit vs. defined-contribution) and beneficiary designations, with defined contribution plans offering more flexibility for adult children as beneficiaries, according to SmartAsset.com and The Private Office. For Social Security, children can get survivor benefits up to age 18 (or 19 if in school) or longer if disabled, receiving up to 75% of the parent's benefit, notes the Social Security Administration.
Yes, you can usually transfer your pension to another provider if you want to bring your savings together. But in some cases, a transfer might not be possible or advisable – like if there are restrictions on your current scheme, or if you'd lose guaranteed benefits.
When you initially enroll in your employer's pension plan, you'll be asked to name a beneficiary. The beneficiary is the person who will receive your pension when you die. Much like naming a beneficiary on a life insurance policy, you can name one or more individuals to receive the benefits of your pension.
Only in exceptional circumstances can you transfer your pension to someone else. This is typically in the case of divorce, dissolving a civil partnership or in the event of your death.
You may inherit part of or all of your partner's extra State Pension or lump sum if: they died while they were deferring their State Pension (before claiming) or they had started claiming it after deferring. they reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. you were married or in the civil partnership when they died.
Within a family, a child can receive up to half of the parent's full retirement or disability benefits. If a child receives survivors benefits, they can get up to 75% of the deceased parent's basic Social Security benefit. There is a limit, however, to the amount of money we can pay to a family.
When someone dies, their pension benefits usually go to a designated beneficiary or spouse as a lump sum, continuing income (like a survivor annuity), or sometimes stop, depending on the plan rules, payout option chosen, and whether payments had started. The plan administrator must be notified (with a death certificate) to determine if benefits are due, often providing survivor payments (e.g., 50% of the original) if elected, otherwise the remaining fund typically goes to beneficiaries or the estate.
You can nominate anyone as the beneficiary of your pension, not just your relatives. If your pension is in drawdown, your chosen beneficiaries can choose to receive your pension as a lump sum or as regular income payments. However, some older pension schemes do not offer drawdown.
An 'expression of wish and nomination' form, as it's officially called, tells your pension provider who should receive your pension savings (the 'beneficiaries') if you die before you retire.
This means any money left in the pot when the person died can be passed on, usually to the beneficiaries they nominated. The pension provider will usually contact those named to explain what their options are. Beneficiaries can typically choose to: take some or all the money as one or more lump sums.
You can nominate a loved one, including family members, spouses or friends as a beneficiary of your pension to be considered for any death benefits after you've gone. In a divorce or at the end of a civil partnership, pensions may be considered a shared asset.
Most modern pension plans will allow you to say which people or causes you'd like your money to go to when you die. But check with your provider or employer because the process for naming your beneficiaries can vary. You may need to request a beneficiary nomination form from your pension provider.
In most cases, yes. You can pass your pension on to your children, spouse, or any other beneficiary you choose. If you have a defined contribution pension (a personal pension), the funds you've built up can normally be paid to whoever you've nominated.
If a parent passes away, their pension may be claimable depending on the type of pension: Defined Benefit Pensions may pay out a dependants' pension to children under a certain age or those in full-time education.
From 20 September 2025, the full pension is available, under the assets test, for homeowner singles whose assessable assets are under $321,500 – for homeowner couples the number is $481,500. The numbers for non-homeowners are $579,500 and $739,500 respectively.
Avoiding inheritance tax on pensions
By changing the nominated beneficiary to your children – or other heirs beyond your spouse – if death occurs before April 2027, the pension can pass outside the estate free of inheritance tax to the next generation.
As of January 2025, inheritance tax doesn't usually apply when you pass on your pension pot. This is because your pension doesn't normally contribute to your taxable estate. This means that pensions have been a tax-efficient way to save and invest with the intention of passing down your cash to future generations.
Transferring your pension might mean you get lower fees, different withdrawal options and let you bring your different schemes together. But you risk losing valuable benefits that only your current provider offers. Here's what you need to know.
More In Retirement Plans
A beneficiary is generally any person or entity the account owner chooses to receive the benefits of a retirement account or an IRA after they die. The owner must designate the beneficiary under procedures established by the plan.
In the case of Family Pension the widow is eligible to receive family pension on death of her spouse after completion of one year of continuous service or even before completion of one year if the Government servant had been examined by the appropriate Medical Authority and declared fit for Government service.