Open petition: Allow spouses to receive 3 years worth of their deceased partner’s state pension

Created by Matthew Faber
Closes on 4 August 2026

If a spouse dies after retirement, surviving partners may be able to inherit up a part of their spouse’s pensions, sometimes up to 50%. However, most people cannot inherit their spouse’s state pensions based on their contribution record if their spouse dies before retirement age.

Some work-based pensions allow for a named beneficiary to receive three years’ salary as a 'death in service' settlement, which we believe is reasonable. If a spouse dies before their SPA, even when both have paid thirty-five years’ worth of national insurance contributions, their partner cannot receive any part. We are calling for the Government to change this to allow a surviving spouse to receive a single payment equivalent to three years’ worth of state pension payments.

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