Pension post 16/38 point

[edward england]

Without delving too deeply, does anyone know off the top of their head whether/how much of a pension paid at age 38 gets transferred to their other half in the event of their untimely demise? If so, does this still change after 17 years if the full amount was commuted?

Thanks in advance :ok:

[Wyler]

She will get 100% for 6 months and then 50% thereafter.
After your 55 point, when it becomes index linked, same percentages but includes index linking.
That is my understanding anyway.

[BBadanov]

Although I cannot answer the percentage that the widow will be entitled to, from my 38/16 point (1987) to when index linking kicked in at 55 (2004), my pension almost trebled.

[Fareastdriver]

Dunno what the rules are now but when my dad went his own way in 1957 he commuted half his pension and it went up to a index linked rate in 1977. When he died in 1998 my mother received 50% of what would have been his full pension, much the same as they were getting before.

[EngAl]

Wyler and Fareast - Have it correct.
To put it another way, everything I've been told and read says that commutation is ignored when calculating a widow's entitlement.

[TomJoad]

Wyler and Fareast - Have it correct.
To put it another way, everything I've been told and read says that commutation is ignored when calculating a widow's entitlement.

I know it wasn't asked by the OP but from what I remember doesn't the presence of children under 18 also have a bearing?

[edward england]

Thanks for all your replies, that's been a great help.

[ex_matelot]

Contact AFPAA Glasgow. All the info you need is on a leaflet they send out with the annual pension update. I don't have mine at hand at the moment as it's deep inside the admin box.

[Al R]

Edward,

Lots of variables and you don't pin down your circumstances but there is some useful generic info here though.

If Death Occurs Whilst Serving (http://www.veterans-uk.info/pensions/death.html)

Two tabs in this one below to flip through.

https://www.gov.uk/search?q=AFPS#departments-policy-results

I would suggest Forces Pension Society or SPVA for chapter and verse once you mention your circumstances. Vovpop is a member here and knows his/her onions.

[edward england]

Al R - thanks for that, will do

[Voxpop]

These are the rules for AFPS 75:

If you die in service your spouse would get a lump sum of 3 times your pay, a pension equal to your pay for 91 days (182 days if there are eligible children) and a pension normally worth 50% of the pension you had built up to the date of death.

If you die after you have left service with a pension your spouse would get a pension equal to your pension for 91 days (182 days if there are eligible children) and a pension normally worth 50% of your pension thereafter.

For completeness, if you die having left service with a preserved pension, your spouse would get your preserved lump sum and a pension normally worth 50% of your preserved pension.

The 'normally' is there because there are differences for those who have service before 1973 (when widow's pensions went from 1/3 of the member's pension to 1/2) or 1978 (prior to which women who married ex-servicemen were not entitled to a pension on his death), and, of course, divorce can have alter benefits in line with the judge's ruling.

This pension ceases if the recipient remarries or cohabits. The Forces Pension Society (Forces Pension Society - Fighting for the Forces and their Families (http://www.forcespensionsociety.org)) is currently campaigning to have this rule abolished in the same way as the Northern Ireland Assembly has abolished it for widows of members of the RUC.

[Fareastdriver]

Voxpop
1978 (prior to which women who married ex-servicemen were not entitled to a pension on his death),

What day in 1978?

[Voxpop]

6 April, I believe.

[Fareastdriver]

That means that as I retired in August 1978 I can marry a 20 year old Chinese or Thai dolly and she would get half my pension after I had croaked or died of a heart attack through over excitment.

[Voxpop]

Not quite. She would get a tiny pension based on your service from 6 April 1978 to your retirement date in August 1978. It would be so small that SPVA would turn it into a small, one-off lump sum (called 'trivial commutation').

However, please don't let this bad news spoil your fun.