Regulation 2.E.21 Payment of lump sums or pensions on deathF11

England and Wales

(1)

A lump sum payable under regulation 2.E.16 F1or a pension payable under regulation 2.E.20A must be paid in accordance with this regulation.

(2)

The lump sum F2or pension must be paid to the member’s personal representatives, except so far as it is payable to a different person F3or body under paragraph (4), (6) or (10).

(3)

A member may give notice to the Secretary of State—

(a)

specifying—

(i)

the member’s personal representatives,

(ii)

one or more other individuals, or

(iii)

one incorporated or unincorporated body,

to whom the lump sum F4or pension is to be paid, and

(b)

where two or more individuals are specified, specifying the percentage of the payment payable to each of them.

(4)

If the member—

(a)

has given notice under paragraph (3) specifying a person, and

(b)

has not revoked that notice,

the lump sum or pension (or, as the case may be, the percentage of it specified in respect of the person) may be paid to the person, unless paragraph (5) or (7) applies.

(5)

This paragraph applies if—

(a)

the person specified in the notice has died before the payment can be made, or

(b)

payment to that person is not, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, reasonably practicable.

(6)

If the member—

(a)

leaves a surviving adult dependant, and

(b)

has not given notice under paragraph (3) or has revoked any notice so given,

the lump sum F5or pension may be paid to that person unless paragraph (7) applies.

(7)

This paragraph applies if the person to whom the lump sum F6or pension (or a specified percentage of the lump sum or pension) would otherwise be payable has been convicted of an offence specified in F7regulation 2.J.7(4) (forfeiture of rights to benefit) and the Secretary of State has directed, as a consequence of that conviction, that the person’s right to a payment in respect of the member’s death is forfeited.

(8)

A notice under paragraph (3)—

(a)

must be given in writing, and

(b)

may be revoked at any time by a further notice in writing.

(9)

The Secretary of State may pay the lump sum to any person claiming to be the member’s personal representative or otherwise to fall within paragraph (3)(a), without requiring proof that the person is such a person concerned, if the lump sum does not exceed—

(a)

£5,000, or

(b)

any higher amount specified in an order made under section 6(1) of the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965^f1 as the amount to be treated as substituted for references to £500 in section 1 of that Act.

F8(10)

The member’s personal representatives may, as part of the distribution of the member’s estate, give irrevocable notice to the Secretary of State—

(a)

specifying—

(i)

one or more individuals, or

(ii)

one incorporated or unincorporated body,

to whom the benefit of the pension under regulation 2.E.20A from the date of receipt of the notice by the Secretary of State is to be assigned, and

(b)

where two or more individuals are specified, specifying the percentage of the pension payable to each of them,

and the pension (or, as the case may be, the percentage of it specified in respect of the person) may be paid to the person or body, unless paragraph (11) applies.

(11)

This paragraph applies if—

(a)

the person specified in the notice has died before the payment can be made,

(b)

payment to that person or body is not, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, reasonably practicable, or

(c)

the person to whom the pension (or a specified percentage of the pension) would otherwise be payable has been convicted of an offence specified in regulation 2.J.7(4) (forfeiture of rights to benefit) and the Secretary of State has directed, as a consequence of that conviction, that the person’s right to a payment in respect of the member’s death is forfeited.

(12)

The prohibition on assignment of benefits in regulation 2.J.13 (prohibition on assignment or charging of benefits) shall not apply to an assignment by personal representatives under this regulation.

F9(13)

In the case of a 2008 Section Optant, this regulation is subject to regulation 2.K.20.

F10(14)

In the case of a Waiting Period Joiner, this regulation is subject to regulation 2.L.2.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Words in reg. 2.E.21(1) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(b) (with reg. 93)
F2: Words in reg. 2.E.21(2) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(c)(i) (with reg. 93)
F3: Words in reg. 2.E.21(2) substituted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(c)(ii) (with reg. 93)
F4: Words in reg. 2.E.21(3)(4) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(d) (with reg. 93)
F5: Words in reg. 2.E.21(6) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(d) (with reg. 93)
F6: Words in reg. 2.E.21(7) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(e) (with reg. 93)
F7: Words in reg. 2.E.21(7) substituted (with effect from 1.4.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Schemes (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/316), regs. 1(2)(4), 13
F8: Regs. 2.E.21(10)-(12) inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(f) (with reg. 93)
F9: Reg. 2.E.21(13) inserted (1.10.2009) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme, Injury Benefits and Additional Voluntary Contributions (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/2446), regs. 1(2), 45
F10: Reg. 2.E.21(14) inserted (1.4.2010) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme, Injury Benefits and Additional Voluntary Contributions (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/492), regs. 1(2), 31
F11: Words in reg. 2.E.21 heading inserted (1.10.2008) by The National Health Service Pension Scheme and Injury Benefits (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2263), regs. 1(2)(3), 38(a) (with reg. 93)

Footnotes

f1: 1965 c. 32.