Could my estranged husband aged 82 leave his pension to someone else?

I’m a 70-year-old pensioner recently separated from my husband who is 82. He has a work pension that mentions widow’s pension.

If he dies, would I still be entitled to a widow’s pension, or can he name someone else?

could my estranged husband aged 82 leave his pension to someone else?

Separated spouse: Can my estranged husband leave a widow’s pension to someone else?

Tanya Jefferies, of This is Money, replies: You don’t give details of your current situation, but if you don’t have much to live on you might consider if you need to share your husband’s pension now.

It would be a good idea to talk through all your options with a lawyer, even if you are not ready to divorce or eventually decide against – see below.

How to find a lawyer 

It is usually best to find a lawyer via a personal recommendation.

You can also use the search tool on the Law Society’s website – choose family and relationships in the drop-down box and input your location .

If you can’t afford a lawyer, you can get help with legal fees in certain situations when you separate from a partner.

Details about the rules and a database of solicitors who might be able to help are on the Citizens Advice website.

Citizens Advice also offers suggestions on how to find low-cost or free – called ‘pro bono’ – legal advice. Your local branch can give you free, confidential, independent help on how to move forward.

Citizens Advice says that if you want to represent yourself, you can get advice on going to court without the help of a lawyer from Advicenow.

Here are some links that might be useful.

Who inherits a work pension when you die?

Will you inherit a state pension from a spouse?

Can you claim a higher state pension if you’re divorced?

How are pensions split in a divorce?

Do you qualify for pension credit?

We asked a finance expert to look at your situation in more detail and she runs through your options below.

Tamsin Caine, chartered financial planner at Smart Financial, replies: As is often the case with these questions, it depends on a number of factors.

Assuming that you remain separated and do not formalise this by divorcing, you will be entitled to a widow’s pension on the death of your husband.

If you formalise this situation by going through a divorce, you will no longer be entitled to the widow’s pension as you would no longer be classed as his widow due to the marriage contract being dissolved.

However, if you stay separated, you will not be entitled to any of your husband’s pension benefits during his lifetime.

He may choose to share them with you voluntarily, but you have no actual entitlement.

If you opt for the divorce route, you could receive a share of the pension via a pension sharing order, which is only available on divorce.

What happens to pensions and other financial assets if you get divorced?

It is worth me saying a little more about the situation on divorce.

In England and Wales, for long marriages, the division of financial assets on divorce takes into account all assets – for example, the family home, other properties, savings, investments, business interests, crypto currency and pensions.

There are a number of ways of sharing the pensions.

1. A pension sharing order gives a pension credit to one party and a pension debit to the other.

could my estranged husband aged 82 leave his pension to someone else?

Tamsin Caine:  If you stay separated, you will not be entitled to any of your husband’s pension benefits during his lifetime.

In some cases, the receiving spouse may be able to become a shadow member of the pension scheme, with their own benefits to access when they retire.

In others, they will have to transfer the pension credit to a personal pension of their own. This route generally aims to equalise the benefits both husband and wife receive.

2. Another option is offsetting, where one spouse receives cash or other assets in lieu of the value of the pension.

For example, they may receive a lump sum, investment property or greater share of the family home, rather than a share of the pension.

3. The final option is a pension attachment order, which provides the recipient with a share of the pension income that the pension member is due to receive.

This has become less common following the introduction of pension sharing orders due to the lack of control that the recipient has over the pension.

For all options, advice should be taken from an expert in this area as there are some complexities that may be missed and unintended consequences could occur if choices are not fully explored.

An important warning on getting a financial settlement sorted BEFORE applying for a divorce to be finalised

I should also add that the situation around the widow’s pension not being paid post-divorce is one of the main reasons that the financial settlement should be agreed, and the Financial Consent Order sealed by the court before applying for the Final Order, formerly the Decree Absolute.

If the spouse sharing their pension were to die after the Final Order was granted but before the Financial Consent Order, which the Pension Sharing Annex is a part of, there would be no widow’s pension and no pension share.

This is a very possible situation.

Thankfully, the only time I have experienced the death of one party during divorce after the Conditional Order was granted, the Final Order had not been applied for and so the widow received the pension death benefits.

What’s the difference between defined contribution and defined benefit pensions?

Defined contribution pensions take contributions from both employer and employee and invest them to provide a pot of money at retirement.

Unless you work in the public sector, they have now mostly replaced more generous gold-plated defined benefit – or final salary – pensions, which provide a guaranteed income after retirement until you die.

Defined contribution pensions are stingier and savers bear the investment risk, rather than employers.

What kind of work pension does your husband receive?

From your question, it appears that your husband’s work pension is probably a defined benefit pension.

There are a number of types of these but they include final salary schemes and career average, often called CARE, schemes.

There is another type of pension known as defined contribution. Rather than providing a definite amount of income on retirement, these pensions are dependent on the value of the pot at retirement.

They also provide death benefits by way of a lump sum, a dependent’s annuity, or dependent’s drawdown.

In this case, an ‘expression of wishes’ by the pension holder guides the trustee’s decision as to where to pay the death benefits.

This can be changed at any point to any person, trust or charity specified by the pension member.

However, pension scheme trustees have discretion as to where to pay the funds and often look at financial dependents in the first instance.

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