top of page

Life events

Death in service

The LGPS provides you with peace of mind by providing benefits for your family if you die whilst still an active member of the scheme.

​

Depending on your circumstances the scheme can provide:
 

  • A lump sum death payment

  • Survivor’s pensions

  • Children’s pensions
     

Have you completed a Death Grant Expression of Wish Form?

  • This benefit is paid if you die whilst still an active member of the Scheme. The benefit is a tax free lump sum equal to three times your actual pay.

  • When you die, we may be able to pay a pension to your husband/wife, your civil partner or your cohabiting partner.

    ​

    This will be 1/160th of your pensionable pay multiplied by the total membership you would have built up to your Normal Pension Age.

    ​

    Cohabiting Partners – the Scheme includes a cohabiting partner’s pension for dependant partners in both opposite and same sex relationships.  The definition of a qualifying partner is:
     

    • You must have lived with your partner in a permanent exclusive relationship for a minimum of two years,

    • You must be legally free to marry or to enter into a civil partnership,

    • You and your partner are living together as if you were husband and wife or as if you were 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.
       

    Some examples of financial interdependency accepted by HMRC (these are not exhaustive and not all need to be met) are:
     

    • You share a household and its related costs,

    • You have a joint bank account or mortgage,

    • You have named each other as beneficiaries in your wills.
       

    Any application for a co-habiting partner’s pension will be void if the conditions above have not been continuously met for at least two years at the date of death. In the event of your death we will request evidence that you meet the criteria for a Cohabiting Partner pension to be paid; examples of evidence could be: a joint mortgage statement/joint bank statement/joint utility bill/registration on the Electoral Register.
     

    Cohabiting partner’s pensions are only based on your scheme membership from 6 April 1988. You have to have paid into the LGPS on or after 1 April 2008 for a pension to be payable to your eligible cohabiting partner.
     

    To nominate a cohabiting partner, please complete the following form nominating your cohabiting partner.

  • To be eligible, your children must at the date of your death:
     

    • Be under 18 and be wholly or mainly dependant on you, or

    • Be aged 18 or over and under 23, be dependent on you, and be in full time education or undertaking vocational training (although a dependant child who commences full-time education or vocational training after the date of your death may be treated as an eligible child up to age 23), 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).

    • In all cases, the children must have been born before or within a year of your death.
       

    The amount of pension depends on the number of children you have:

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

    One child

    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

    Two or more children

    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

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

    One child

    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

    Two or more children

    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

    Please note the pension may be reduced if your child is receiving pay while in full-time training for a trade, profession or vocation.
     

    All Children’s Pensions must be paid into a bank account which they are a named account holder.

  • If you leave the scheme and have been a member for less than the 2 year vesting period, you can choose to receive a refund of the contributions you have paid (net of the statutory deductions) provided that:

    • You do not start working for another Local Government employer within 1 month and 1 day of your leaving date.
       

    Please note the Cheshire Pension Fund will have to deduct tax and an amount equivalent to the National Insurance you would have paid (to repay on your behalf) if you had not been a member of the scheme.

    If you joined the scheme before 1 April 2014, left with less than the 2 years vesting period but have more than 3 months membership you can:

    • Take a refund of your pension contributions; as long as you meet the criteria above and have elected to receive the refund within 6 months of leaving

    • Have a deferred pension which increases in line with inflation until payment; or

    • Transfer your pension benefits to another scheme.
       

    The vesting period
     
    The vesting period refers to the period of time that you must be an active member of the LGPS before becoming entitled to benefits under the scheme.  The vesting period in the LGPS is 2 years, however, it can be met before 2 years in certain circumstances.  You will meet the 2 year vesting period if any of the following conditions apply:
     

    • You have been a member of the LGPS in England and Wales for 2 years

    • You transferred a pension into the LGPS from a different occupational pension scheme or from a European pensions institution and, the length of service you had in that scheme or institution was 2 or more years or, when added to the period of time you have been a member of the LGPS the period is in total more than 2 years

    • You have brought a transfer of pension rights into the LGPS in England or Wales from a pension scheme or arrangement where you were not allowed to receive a refund of contributions

    • You have previously transferred pension rights out of the LGPS in England or Wales to a pension scheme abroad i.e. to a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme

    • You already hold a deferred benefit or are receiving a pension from the LGPS in England or Wales (other than a survivor’s pension or pension credit member’s pension)

    • You have paid National Insurance contributions whilst a member of the LGPS and you stop paying into the LGPS in the tax year of attaining pension age

    • You cease to contribute to the LGPS at age 75

    • You die in service

  • If you have been a member for more than 3 months your benefits can be transferred out of the Cheshire Pension Fund at any time after you leave providing that your new employer or pension provider is willing to accept the transfer value.

    ​

    You should check that your new pension provider will accept transfers and that you are within any time limits they may apply before you request a transfer out of the Cheshire Pension Fund.

    ​

    If you have less than two years membership at the date you leave and after one year you decide not to transfer your benefits, you will receive a refund of your contributions (plus interest).

    ​

    The Government announced in the 2014 Budget that reforms to workplace pensions would be made to offer greater flexibility in the way individuals aged 55 and over can access any Defined Contribution (DC) pension savings they may have.  These changes became effective on 6 April 2015.

    ​

    It’s important that as a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) you understand that you are a member of a public sector Defined Benefit (DB) scheme and therefore the flexibilities introduced under ‘Freedom and Choice’ do not impact on how you can take your Defined Benefits from the LGPS.

    ​

    There are however, some indirect changes which that will impact members of the LGPS who are considering transferring the value of their accrued LGPS Defined Benefit pension rights from the LGPS to a DC arrangement offering flexible benefits.

    ​

    The LGPS have produced Freedom and Choice questions and answers to help you understand the changes. 

  • Once you have 2 years of membership in the Scheme (or less if you have transferred previous pension rights in), your benefits will be deferred in the Cheshire Pension Fund until you reach your normal retirement age.  During the time your benefits are deferred in the Fund, they will be revalued in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year from the date you leave.

    ​

    If you joined the scheme before 1 April 2014 you may also choose to take a refund or transfer

    your benefits.  You can only take these additional options if:

     

    • You left the scheme after 1 April 2014

    • You have more than 3 months membership, but less than 2 years membership

  • For more information on opting out of the LGPS click here

Divorce

If you get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership, the Court will take your pension assets into account when determining any settlement.  Therefore you and your ex-partner will need to consider how to treat your benefits as part of any divorce settlement.  

 

There are three main ways of treating your pension benefits during a divorce or dissolution:

 

Pension sharing – the pension is split at the time of divorce or dissolution so that you each receive a separate pension pot and can continue to build pension benefits for the future.

 

Pension offsetting – you each keep your own pension benefits but adjust the proportion of other assets to take account of the value of the pension benefits.  For example, you could keep your pension and your ex-spouse or ex-civil partner could get a larger share of the value of the house.

 

Pension earmarking – arranging that when one person’s pension benefits start to be drawn down, part of them will be paid to the other person.

 

Please note that a Court may require a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value and this is not the value of your Annual Benefit Statement.  If required please complete the request form below.

  • A cash equivalent transfer value or CETV is a monetary value which represents the worth of the benefits to be given up. 

     

    You will need to complete our CETV form to give us the authority to provide you, and your solicitor (if applicable) with the required information. 

     

    Once we’ve received your consent form we will write to you with the first valuation.  

What if you remarry or enter into a new civil partnership?
 

If your LGPS benefits are subject to a Pension Sharing Order and you remarry, enter into a new civil partnership or into a cohabiting partnership, any spouse’s pension, civil partner’s pension or eligible cohabiting partner’s pension payable following your death will also be reduced.

 

If you remarry or enter into a new civil partnership and then divorce or dissolve your civil partnership again, your remaining pension rights can be subject to further division, although a Pension Sharing Order cannot be issued if an Earmarking Order has already been issued against your LGPS pension rights.  Similarly, an Earmarking Order cannot be issued if your pension benefits are already subject to a Pension Sharing Order in respect of the marriage or civil partnership.

bottom of page