Important information:

Phone lines open between 10am - 4pm

Our telephone lines are only open from 10am until 4pm and are extremely busy. Why not instead try our new virtual assistant who can answer many queries, or else email pensions@shropshire.gov.uk Many thanks for your patience.

Cohabiting partners’ pension

If you've a cohabiting partner, of either opposite or same sex, they may get a survivors’ pension on your death. For a pension to be paid to a cohabiting survivor you must've been in the LGPS from 1 April 2008.

All the following rules must have applied for a continuous period of at least two years on the date of your death:

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

You don't have to fill in a form to nominate a cohabiting partner for a cohabiting partners’ pension. However, we'll need proof to check that the rules for a cohabiting partners’ pension are met.

Membership from 1 April 2014

For membership built up from 1 April 2014 to your date of death, the pension due is equal to 1/160th of your pensionable pay (or assumed pensionable pay where applicable) times the period of your membership in the scheme after 31 March 2014, plus 49/160ths of the amount of any pension credited to your pension account following a transfer of pension rights into the scheme from another pension scheme or arrangement, plus a pension equal to 1/160th of your assumed pensionable pay each year of membership you would have built up from your date of death to your normal pension age.

Membership before 1 April 2014

For membership built up before 1 April 2014 the pension due is equal to 1/160th of your final pay times the period of your membership in the scheme after 5 April 1988 up to 31 March 2014, plus any of your membership before 6 April 1988 for which you have paid additional contributions so that it counts towards an eligible cohabiting partners’ pension.