The bereavement process
Find answers to our most frequently asked questions below.
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The bereavement process
If you die in service as a member of an LGPS, police or firefighters scheme, a lump sum death grant of three times your salary at your date of death is paid, provided you are under age 75 at the date of death.
If you have a deferred pension, or if you are already receiving your pension, the way the death grant is calculated is different. For more details, click here.
Your spouse, civil partner, eligible cohabiting partner or declared partner (depending on your scheme), will also receive part of your pension as an annual income for the rest of their life. Or, subject to qualifying conditions, eligible children may also receive part of your pension up to the age of 23.
You should contact the LPPA Helpdesk so they can let you know what you need to do next.
To contact the Helpdesk, you can fill in our contact form here. Select the reason for your enquiry (ie bereavements) and click Yes at the bottom to continue. Once you’ve filled in your details on the form, scroll to the bottom and click Submit.
If you prefer to call or write to us, visit our contact page and click Alternative ways to get in touch.
You will need to send us a copy of the death certificate so we can finalise any outstanding pension benefits.
Yes, we will send you a series of forms that you need to complete and return to us.
There is no maximum limit, but it is advisable that you complete and return any forms to us as soon as you can, so we can process any pension benefits sooner, rather than later.
A death grant is payable if you are under 75 when you die and:
- An active member of the LGPS, Police or Firefighters’ Scheme (equal to three times your pensionable pay).
Or
- In receipt of a Firefighters’ or LGPS pension for less than five years (or 10 years in the LGPS if you retired after 31/03/2008).
Or
- A deferred member of the LGPS (you have left the scheme but not taken your pension yet).
Find out more about death grants here.
A death grant is not payable if you are 75 or over when you die:
Or
- In receipt of a Firefighters’ or LGPS pension for five years or more (or 10 years in the LGPS if you retired before 31/03/2008).
Or
- A deferred member of the Police or Firefighters’ scheme (you have left the scheme, but not taken your pension yet).
Find out more about death grants here.
Bereavement terminology
A death grant is a financial lump sum that is payable in the event of your death when you have a local government, police or firefighters’ pension. It acts as a kind of life insurance for your loved ones when you die.
There are three types of death grants:
- Death in service – if a member dies in service. The lump sum is equal to three times their annual pay for all schemes
- Death in deferred (for LGPS only) – if a member has stopped paying into the scheme. The lump sum is equal to five times their deferred annual pension (or three times if they left before 1 April 2008)
- Death in pension – if the member was already receiving a pension in payment. The lump sum depends on when the member left the active service (and for Police and Fire schemes, what scheme they were in)
To learn more about death grants, visit our Death of a Member page
This is a percentage of the deceased’s pension, which is paid to a partner or dependant child in monthly installments.
This is a government service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. To learn more, click here.
A grant of probate is a document that confirms the executor(s) of a will – the person or people responsible for carrying out the wishes in that will.
Letters of administration are issued to the next of kin when a will hasn’t been made.
Pension entitlements
The partner of a deceased pension member, like a spouse, civil partner or declared partner (who you choose to nominate to take this pension if you’re with the police scheme), may be entitled to receive a survivor’s pension.
Children of a deceased member may be entitled to receive a survivor’s pension (a form of a survivor’s pension) – up to the age of 18 (or 23 if they are in full time education).
If you are member of a local government or firefighter scheme, you can nominate one or more people to receive a death grant lump sum – this can include a friend (or charity if you’re a member of the Local Government scheme).
If you are a member of a police scheme, the death grant lump sum is automatically paid to your spouse or eligible partner. If you don’t have a spouse or partner, the death grant would be paid to your nominated beneficiary.
