Death Grant Form

If you are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme, you are covered by a package of benefits. This includes the payment of a Death Grant. You can choose who would received this payment, should the event happen. You can complete a nomination form through My Pension.

Is there any advantage in making an expression of wish?

Yes. The advantage of making an expression of wish is that the payments can normally be made quickly without waiting for the estate to be settled. Also, payment usually means that no inheritance tax needs to be paid on the Death Grant.

Are there any disadvantages?

No, although the Leicestershire Pension Fund has absolute discretion to make payment of the Death Grant to the member’s nominee or personal representatives or any person appearing to the authority to have been his/her relative at any time. This means that, in theory, it does not have to be paid to the named nominee. However, this only happens in very unusual circumstances. For example, someone who is now married with children may have nominated their parents many years ago when they were single. In those circumstances we might think it reasonable that the person had forgotten to update their wishes and might make the payment to the person’s estate to benefit their spouse, civil partner, cohabiting partner or children.

How much will the Death Grant be?

If you die in service before the age 75, the Death Grant will be 3 times your pay. If you are a Deferred Member and you left the scheme before 31 March 2008, the Death Grant will be 3 times the value of the deferred pension that was calculated for you upon leaving, plus index-linked increases. If you left the scheme after 1 April 2008, then the Death Grant will be 5 times the value of the deferred pension that calculated for you upon leaving, plus index-linked increases.

Who can the Death Grant be paid to?

You can make an expression of wish to whoever you would like to receive the lump sum – family, friends, partners or an organisation such as your favourite charity. All we ask is that if naming more than one beneficiary you indicate what share each should get (making sure the shares add up to 100%). If you wish to nominate someone under 18 years old, you should consider setting up a trust fund. This can be done as part of your will and a solicitor could assist you in this respect.

What happens if my circumstances change?

There will be circumstances where you will need to change your beneficiary, e.g. if one of your nominees die, and there will be other circumstances where you will want to consider changing your beneficiary, e.g. following a divorce. You can do this simply by updating the form below.

What if I have more than one LGPS pension?

If you have more than one LGPS pension – that is to say, if you have separate benefits either within the Leicestershire scheme or under another local authority – in the event of your death only one Death Grant may be payable, subject to scheme rules. This will be the one that is the higher of the payments, once they have been calculated.

What will happen to my Death Grant if I don’t complete this form?

As mentioned earlier, the Pension Fund has absolute discretion regarding who to make payment to. If you do not complete an expression of wish form, the Death Grant may be paid to your estate and will be paid to whoever is legally entitled to receive payment. The Probate Office decide who that is and will issue Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration, depending on whether you have written a Will or not. This process can take time and the Death Grant then forms part of your estate and may be liable for inheritance tax. If you have not written a Will, your estate might not be distributed in the way you would wish. Remember though; the Death Grant may only be a small part of your estate and you may be better off tying up all your affairs with a properly drawn up Will.

What if I have already written a Will?

You can still complete the Death Grant - expression of wish form, which will speed up the process and give the advantages listed earlier.