Death benefits

If you die after you have retired the following benefits are payable:

Survivor’s pension

A survivor’s pension is payable to your spouse, registered civil partner or, your eligible cohabiting partner (certain qualifying conditions apply) for their lifetime.

Have a look how the survivor’s pension benefits are calculated .

For a survivor’s pension to be paid to your eligible cohabiting partner, all of the following conditions must have applied for a continuous period of at least 2 years before your death:

• you are both free to marry or enter into a civil partnership with each other
• you have been living together as if you were husband and wife, or civil partners
• neither of you have been living with someone else as if you were husband and wife or civil partner
• your partner is financially dependent on you or you and your partner are interdependent on each other

Children’s pension

If you die after retiring, leaving one or more Eligible Child, they would be entitled to a children’s pension, payable from the day after your death.

The child pension would be paid until they reach at least 18 years of age. Eligible children can be legitimate, illegitimate or adopted, or any child who has been accepted as a member of the family, and dependent on the member at the time of death.

If the eligible child has a physical or mental disability since before they were aged 18, the child’s pension will be payable for as long as the disability continues.

Pensions can also be paid to children over the age of 18, up to a maximum age of 23, providing that they remain in full time continuous education, or undertaking an approved training course for at least 2 years.

Have a look how the child’s pension are calculated

Lump sum death grant

If you left on or after 1 April 2008, a Lump Sum Death Grant may be payable when you die. However, to qualify you need to be under age 75 at date of death.

Your pension payments are guaranteed for 10 years – which means if you die within 10 years of retiring the amount payable will be 10 times your annual pension, less any pension already paid.

For example if your pension is £10,000 per year and you have been retired for 2 years and 6 months, the Lump Sum Death Grant payable will be:

£10,000 X 10 = £100,000 – less 2 years 6 months payments of £25,000 = £75,000 final payment

However, if you have been receiving your pension for 10 years or more, there will be no Lump Sum Death Grant payable when you die.

If you left on or before the 31 March 2008, the Death Grant payable in the event of your death would be 5 times the value of your annual pension, less any pension already paid.

So if your pension has been paid for 5 years or more, there will be no Lump Sum Death Grant payable when you die.

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 your pension fund administrator for an estimate of the amount that may be payable, if applicable.

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

You can nominate any person, organisation or charity to receive a death grant payment, and the money can be divided as many ways as you want.  To make a nomination please complete a Death Grant Nomination Form.

If no nomination has been made, payment of the death grant will normally be made to your Estate or Personal Representatives.

Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Pension Fund has absolute discretion who the Death Grant is paid to.

It’s important to keep your death grant nomination up to date, at all times. If you want to change your previous nomination, you will need to complete another Death Grant Nomination Form