In the UK for 2025/26, a married woman with limited National Insurance contributions may claim a Basic State Pension of £105.70 a week (60% of the full £176.45 rate) based on her husband’s record. If she qualifies under the new State Pension system (born after 5 April 1953), her entitlement is based on her own record.
You're a woman born after 5 April 1950 and before 6 April 1953. The full basic State Pension you can get is £176.45 per week.
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.
The pension payout
How your beneficiary is paid depends on your plan. For example, some plans may pay out a single lump sum, while others will issue payments over a set period of time (such as five,10, or even 20 years), or an annuity with monthly lifetime payments.
With either a salary or defined benefit (DB) pension, it will typically result in a surviving spouse receiving the pension amount. For your offspring to benefit from this money, however, it requires a defined contribution arrangement to transfer your rights.
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.
This is 60% of the full Basic State Pension rate of £176.45 a week. If their spouse or civil partner is not entitled to the full Basic State Pension because they don't have a full contribution record as of 6 April 2016 their wife or civil partner will be entitled to 60% of the amount they do receive.
Yes, you can get Social Security benefits even if you never worked, primarily through Spousal/Divorcee benefits, Survivor benefits, or the needs-based Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, none of which require a work history, though standard retirement/disability (SSDI) does. You can get up to 50% of a working spouse's benefit (spousal), or potentially 100% as a widow/widower (survivor). SSI provides aid for aged, blind, or disabled people with limited income/resources, regardless of work.
How to increase your retirement income
A pension, often called a defined benefit plan, typically has spousal benefits. Spousal benefits can be paid after the death of the person receiving the pension, sometimes called the participant. Pension spousal benefits are typically a percentage of the participant's full pension benefit.
There are no longer any special state pension arrangements for married couples, meaning each individual in a marriage or civil partnership needs to build up their own state pension. Our guide to how the state pension works provides more information.
Many married couples choose the joint life pension payout so a payment will continue to your spouse upon your death. The advantage of the joint life pension payout is that upon your death, your spouse will continue to receive a percentage of your benefit for as long as your spouse lives.
The government has announced that the State Pension age (SPa) timetable will, for the time being, remain unchanged from the current legislated timetable: SPa will increase from 66 to 67 – between April 2026 and April 2028. SPa will increase from 67 to 68 – between April 2044 and April 2046.
The "pension 5-year rule" refers to different IRS rules for retirement accounts (like Roth IRAs needing 5 years for tax-free earnings), beneficiary rules (requiring heirs to empty inherited accounts within 5 years), and specific employment pensions (like Federal or Congressional plans requiring 5 years of service for vesting or benefits). It can also relate to UK pension rules for overseas transfers (QROPS) or breaks in service for public sector workers, preventing tax avoidance or loss of benefits.
You usually need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance (NI) contributions to get the full State Pension. If you don't have enough, you can pay to fill gaps in your record to boost how much you get – even if you're already getting your State Pension.
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.
Take cash lump sums
You can take your whole pension pot as cash straight away if you want to, no matter what size it is. You can also take smaller sums as cash whenever you need to. 25% of your total pension pot will be tax-free. You'll pay tax on the rest as if it were income.
Whether your children can inherit your pension depends on the type of pension you have. If you have a defined contribution pension, like ours at People's Pension, you could choose your children as beneficiaries so they can inherit your pot.