Retired or planning to retire

Death benefits

The LGPS provides valuable life cover and financial protection for your family. These are the benefits that would be payable if you were to die after you have retired and are receiving payment of your pension. The LGPS provides valuable life cover and financial protection for your family. These are the benefits that would be payable if you were to die after you have retired and are receiving payment of your pension.

If you die after you have retired payment of your pension benefits will stop. Your spouse, civil partner, eligible cohabiting partner, next-of-kin or person dealing with your estate should inform Warwickshire Pension Fund of your date of death as soon as possible to avoid your pension being overpaid.

The benefits that may be payable depend on when you left the LGPS.

Lump sum death grant

If you left the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008

A lump sum death grant will be paid if you die and less than 10 years pension has been paid and you are under age 75 at the date of death. The amount payable would be:

10 times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership of the scheme after 31 March 2014 (before giving up any pension for a tax free cash lump sum), less any pension already paid to you in respect of your post 31 March 2014 membership and the amount of any tax-free cash lump sum you chose to take by giving up some of the pension you built up after 31 March 2014 when you drew your pension at retirement, plus
10 times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership of the scheme before 1 April 2014 (after giving up any pension for a tax-free cash lump sum), less any pension already paid to you in respect of your pre 1 April 2014 membership.

If you left the LGPS before 1 April 2008

A lump sum death grant will be paid if you die and less than 5 years pension has been paid and you are under age 75 at the age of death. The amount payable would be:

Five times the level of your annual pension in respect of your membership in the scheme (after giving up any pension for a tax-free cash lump), less any pension already paid to you.

If you left the LGPS before 1 April 1998

The calculation of the death grant depends on whether you have more than, or less than, 10 years' service that counts towards the calculation of your pension benefits. The calculation is complex and you can ask the pension fund for an estimate of the amount that may be payable, if applicable.

Please note if you are drawing a pension and you are also an active member of the LGPS when you die, the death grant payable is the higher of:

the amount as calculated above, or
three times your assumed pensionable pay in your active employment

Survivor benefits

How is a partner's pension worked out?

Death after retirement

An ongoing pension is provided for your spouse, registered civil partner or, subject to certain qualifying conditions, your eligible cohabiting partner (if you were a member of the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008). This pension is payable immediately after your death for the rest of their life and will increase every year in line with the cost of living.

Short term pension

If you left the LGPS before 1 April 2008 a short term pension payable at a higher rate may be payable to your surviving spouse or civil partner for a period of three months (or six months if there is an eligible child in the care of the surviving spouse or civil partner).

This pension is usually equal to the level of your pension, however, if you are a woman the short-term pension payable to a widower may be based on your membership of the LGPS after 5 April 1988 only. In addition, if you entered your civil partnership or married after leaving the LGPS the amount of short-term pension payable may be less than the value of your pension.

The benefits thereafter, and where no short term pension is payable, are generally calculated below.

For your spouse (from an opposite sex or same sex marriage)

Your membership from 1 April 2014

1/160th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.

Your membership up to 31 March 2014

1/160th of your final pay x the period of your membership up to 31 March 2014.

However, if you marry after leaving the LGPS:

the survivor's pension paid to a widow of an opposite sex marriage is based on your membership after 5 April 1978
the survivor's pension paid to a widower of an opposite sex marriage is based on your membership after 5 April 1988
the survivor's pension of a same sex marriage is based on your membership after 5 April 1978

For your civil partner

Your membership from 1 April 2014

1/160th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.

Your membership up to 31 March 2014

1/160th of your final pay x the period of your membership up to 31 March 2014.

However, if you enter into a civil partnership after leaving the LGPS your civil partner's pension would be based on your membership after 5 April 1978 (or on all of your membership if you left the LGPS between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014 and you, or your civil partner, made and an election before 1 April 2015 for pre 6 April 1988 membership to also count).

For your eligible cohabiting partner

Your membership from 1 April 2014

1/160th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.

Your membership up to 31 March 2014

1/160th of your final pay x the period of your membership from 6 April 1988 up to 31 March 2014, plus any membership before 6 April 1988 if you elected to pay additional contributions to make it count.

An election to pay additional contributions to make membership before 6 April 1988 count towards the calculation of cohabiting partner's pension must have been made before 1 April 2014.

For a cohabiting partner to be entitled to receive a survivor's pension you must have paid into the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008 and your relationship has to meet certain conditions laid down by the LGPS.

How is a child's pension worked out?

Children's pensions are payable to eligible children and increase every year in line with the cost of living. The amount of pension depends on the number of eligible children you have and if a partner's pension is being paid to a spouse, civil partner or eligible co-habiting partner.

If you left the LGPS before 1 April 2008 a short-term pension equal to the level of your pension may be payable to your eligible child(ren), as below:

if there is no surviving spouse's or civil partner's pension payable a short- term pension would be paid for a period of six months
if there is a surviving spouse's or civil partner's pension payable but the eligible child(ren) are not in the care of the surviving spouse or civil partner a short-term pension would be payable for three months

The benefits thereafter, and in cases where a short-term pension is not payable, are generally calculated as below.

If a partner's pension is being paid to your spouse, civil partner or eligible cohabiting partner:

Children's pensions
Membership	One child	Two or more children
Your membership from 1 April 2014	1/320th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.	1/160th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account
Your membership up to 31 March 2014	1/320th of your final pay x the period of your membership in the scheme up to 31 March 2014.	1/160th of your final pay x the period of your membership in the scheme up to 31 March 2014.

If no partner's pension is being paid to your spouse, civil partner or eligible cohabiting partner:

Children's pensions
Membership	One child	Two or more children
Your membership from 1 April 2014	1/240th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.	1/120th of the pensionable pay or assumed pensionable pay you received in each year plus a proportion of any transfer of pension rights credited to your pension account.
Your membership up to 31 March 2014	1/240th of your final pay x the period of your membership in the scheme up to 31 March 2014.	1/240th of your final pay x the period of your membership in the scheme up to 31 March 2014.

If you left the LGPS on or after 1 April 2014 and a pension is payable to two or more children, the pension will be shared equally; if you left before 1 April 2014 your pension fund may apportion the pension between the children as they see fit.

What is an eligible cohabiting partner?

An eligible cohabiting partner is a partner you are living with who, at the date of your death, has met all of the following conditions for a continuous period of at least two years:

you and your cohabiting partner are, and have been, free to marry each other or enter into a civil partnership with each other
you and your cohabiting partner have been living together as if you were a married couple, or civil partners
neither you or your cohabiting partner have been living with someone else as if you/they were a married couple or civil partners
either your cohabiting partner is, and has been, financially dependent on you or you are, and have been, financially interdependent on each other

Your partner is financially dependent on you if you have the highest income. Financially interdependent means that you rely on your joint finances to support your standard of living. It doesn't mean that you need to be contributing equally. For example, if your partner's income is a lot more than yours, he or she may pay the mortgage and most of the bills, and you may pay for the weekly shopping.

On your death, a survivor's pension would be paid to your cohabiting partner if:

all of the above criteria apply at the date of your death, and
your cohabiting partner satisfies your pension fund that the above conditions had been met for a continuous period of at least two years immediately prior to your death

What is an eligible child?

The meaning of an eligible child is:

a natural or adopted child who was born before, on, or in the case of a natural child, within 12 months of the member's death, or
a step-child or a child accepted by the deceased member as a member of the family (excluding a child sponsored by the member through a registered charity) who was dependent on the member at the date of death

In addition to the above eligible children must also meet the following conditions:

be under age 18, or
be aged 18 or over and under 23 and in full-time education or vocational training (Warwickshire Pension Fund will continue to treat the child as an eligible child even if there has been a break in full-time education or vocational training for up to a period of 12 months), or
be unable to engage in gainful employment because of physical or mental impairment and either:
- has not reached the age of 23, or
- the impairment is, in the opinion of an independent registered medical practitioner, likely to be permanent and the child was dependent on you at the date of your death because of that mental or physical impairment

In this context gainful employment means paid employment for not less than 30 hours in each week for a period of not less than 12 months.