The NHS Pension Scheme offers pension benefits to eligible dependants when a member has died.
Eligibile dependants include a:
- spouse
- civil partner
- qualifying scheme partner
A qualifying scheme partner is a partner the member was living with who they're not married or in a civil partnership with, but who meets the eligibility criteria on the Partner Nomination form (PN1).
The member's partner is automatically eligible for an adult dependant pension if they're married or in a civil partnership when the member dies.
If the member was separated from their spouse but not divorced, the spouse is eligible for an adult dependant’s pension.
If the member was living with a partner but was not married or in a civil partnership, the partner is not automatically entitled to these benefits.
How is an adult dependant’s pension calculated
The benefits payable depend on which Scheme the member was in and if at the time of their death they were:
- actively contributing to the Scheme
- a deferred member
- in receipt of their NHS Pension
If the adult dependant pension is less than £260 a year, it’ll automatically be converted to a one-off payment. This is known as trivial commutation.
The pension is automatically authorised as a monthly pension if the pension is £260 or more a year.
It’s possible to convert to a one-off payment if the gross trivial commutation amount does not exceed the £30,000 limit.