Spouses’ and civil partners’ pensions
LGPS Access and Fairness Scheme changes: fairer survivor benefits
From 1 April 2026, survivor pensions will be calculated more consistently to ensure equal treatment regardless of the sex of the member or their survivor.
Some survivor pensions will be increased as more of the member’s service before April 2014 will now count. Some survivor pensions will become payable for the first time – this is most likely to affect male survivors of female members who left the LGPS before April 1988.
The changes apply to deaths dating back to:
- 5 December 2005 for opposite sex marriages and same sex civil partnerships
- 13 March 2014 for same sex marriages
- 31 December 2019 for opposite sex civil partnerships.
Some cohabiting partners’ pensions may also increase if the member died between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014.
If you die in service, a survivors’ pension is due to your spouse or registered civil partner. There's no minimum membership requirement and the pension is paid for the life of the surviving spouse or civil partner.
The pension payable to a survivor depends on when you built up your scheme membership:
Pre-April 2014 membership
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 up to 31 March 2014.
Post-April 2014 membership
For each year of membership you built up from 1 April 2014 to your date of death you would have been credited with a pension equal to a proportion (i.e. 1/49th or, for any period you were in the 50/50 section of the scheme, 1/98th) of the pensionable pay (or assumed pensionable pay where applicable) you received during that year.
The pension due to a spouse, civil partner or eligible cohabiting partner is worked on a different proportion i.e 1/160th of your pensionable pay (or assumed pensionable pay where applicable). Added to this is 49/160ths of the amount of any pension 'bought' following a transfer of pension rights into the scheme, plus an amount equal to 1/160th of your assumed pensionable pay for each year of membership you would've built up from your date of death to your normal pension age.
Some parts of your pension are not counted. This includes extra pension you paid for by making additional pension contributions. Any extra pension paid for through a Qualifying Additional Pension Arrangement (QAPA) does increase the pension paid to your partner.
