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.