The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is one of the largest pension schemes in the UK, covering around 5.7 million active, deferred, and pensioner members working in local government, schools, further education, police support, and a wide range of other public bodies. If someone in your family was an LGPS member, the death benefits – a lump sum death grant and an ongoing survivor’s pension – can be significant.
There is one critical difference from schemes like the NHS Pension: the LGPS has no single national helpline. It is administered by 86 local pension funds across England, Wales, and Scotland, each run by a separate administering authority. Your first task is to identify which fund the deceased belonged to and contact them directly.
This guide explains what benefits are available, how to find the right fund, what to expect from the claims process, and the upcoming changes to how pension death grants are treated for inheritance tax from April 2027.
Quick reference:
- Find your fund: lgpsmember.org/contact-your-fund – search by region, then select the specific fund
- Tell Us Once: the LGPS is NOT covered by Tell Us Once – you must contact the fund directly (see below)
- What to have ready: the deceased’s National Insurance number, their employer’s name and location, and the approximate dates they were in the scheme
What benefits are available
The LGPS provides three main categories of death benefit. What is payable depends on whether the deceased was an active member (still working and contributing), a deferred member (had left the scheme but not yet drawn their pension), or a pensioner member (already receiving their LGPS pension).
Death grant (lump sum): a one-off payment, tax-free in most cases, paid directly to nominated beneficiaries without going through the estate. The amount varies significantly by membership status – see the section below.
Survivor’s pension: an ongoing income for a surviving spouse, civil partner, or qualifying cohabiting partner, paid for the rest of their life and indexed annually to inflation. Unlike the lump sum, this is taxable as income.
Children’s pension: a regular pension for dependent children under 18 (or under 23 if in full-time education, or permanently disabled before age 18). The rate depends on how many children there are and whether a survivor’s pension is also being paid.
All three benefits can be in payment at the same time. None of them require probate – the fund pays them directly to the beneficiaries, independently of the estate.
Tell Us Once does not cover the LGPS
This is one of the most common misconceptions families encounter. The LGPS is not part of the Tell Us Once service. Tell Us Once notifies central government departments – HMRC, DVLA, DWP’s State Pension and benefits – when you register a death with the registrar. It does not notify local authority pension funds.
Even if you used Tell Us Once when registering the death, you must still contact the deceased’s LGPS fund directly to report the death and claim any benefits. Failing to do this means the fund continues paying any pension in payment (and will eventually seek recovery), and the death grant and survivor’s pension remain unclaimed.
Contact the fund as early as possible. If you are unsure which fund is involved, follow the steps in the next section.
How to find your administering authority
The LGPS is split into 86 local pension funds. Each fund is run by an administering authority – typically the county council or metropolitan borough council for that area. The deceased will have belonged to the fund covering the area where they worked, not necessarily where they lived.
To find the right fund: go to lgpsmember.org/contact-your-fund and select the region first (North, Midlands, Wales, South East, London, South West, or Scotland), then pick the specific fund from the dropdown. Each fund’s contact page gives a phone number, email address, and postal address.
If you are unsure which area or employer is relevant – for example if the deceased had several local government jobs over their career – start with the most recent employer. If there were earlier periods of LGPS membership at a different authority, those benefits may have transferred into the current fund or remain held separately; the current fund should be able to tell you.
If you cannot identify the employer or fund at all, the Pension Tracing Service at gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details lets you search by employer name and will return contact details for the relevant scheme.
Once you have contacted the fund, they will send you the relevant claim forms and tell you exactly what documents they need. There is no single national claim form – each fund administers its own process within the same regulatory framework.
What happens to the death grant
The death grant is a one-off lump sum payable when a member dies. The amount depends on membership status at the date of death.
| Membership status | Death grant |
|---|---|
| Active member (still contributing at date of death) | 3× assumed pensionable pay |
| Deferred member – left on or after 1 April 2008 | 5× annual deferred pension |
| Deferred member – left before 1 April 2008 | 3× annual deferred pension |
| Pensioner – retired on or after 1 April 2008 | 10 years’ pension, less any pension already paid |
| Pensioner – retired between 1 April 1998 and 31 March 2008 | 5 years’ pension, less any pension already paid |
| Pensioner – retired before 1 April 1998 | No guarantee unless specific service conditions met |
Source: lgpsmember.org – death grant FAQ and Buckinghamshire Pension Fund – death in service grant. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
Active members: assumed pensionable pay explained
For active members, “3× assumed pensionable pay” means 3× the member’s full-time equivalent pensionable earnings at the date of death – not their actual pay if they happened to be working part-time or reduced hours at the time.
Importantly, if the member had been working reduced hours because of an illness that ultimately caused their death, the assumed pensionable pay is calculated at what they would have earned at full contractual hours. This protection means a terminal illness that forces reduced hours does not reduce the family’s death grant.
If the active member also held a deferred LGPS benefit from an earlier period of employment, the fund pays whichever is greater: the active member’s 3× grant alone, or the combined total of the active and deferred grants. This comparison is done automatically by the fund.
The active member death grant is classed as a death-in-service benefit. This matters for the April 2027 IHT changes (see below), and it means it is payable regardless of the member’s age – following the removal of the former age 75 cap from 1 April 2026.
Deferred members: what the pension is worth
For deferred members, the death grant is based on the current value of the deferred pension at the date of death (not the value when they left). Deferred pensions increase each year in line with CPI inflation, so the longer the gap between leaving and dying, the more the deferred pension – and therefore the death grant – is worth.
A member who left in 2005 on a deferred pension of £4,000 a year, for example, would have that pension revalued annually. By the date of death, it might be £6,500 a year, so the death grant under the pre-2008 rules would be 3× £6,500 = £19,500.
Pensioner members: the 10-year guarantee
For pensioner members who retired on or after 1 April 2008, the scheme provides a 10-year pension guarantee. If the pensioner dies within 10 years of starting to draw their pension, the fund pays the balance of those 10 years as a lump sum.
For example, if the member drew their pension for 3 years before dying, the fund would pay 7 years’ worth of pension as a death grant. If they drew it for 10 years or more before dying, no death grant is payable. This often catches families out: they assume a death grant is always payable, but it only applies within the 10-year window.
The AVC (Additional Voluntary Contribution) pot, if the member had one, is paid separately under its own discretionary arrangement. AVCs held with an external provider through the LGPS AVC arrangement – Prudential, Standard Life, or similar – will need to be notified separately.
The Expression of Wish nomination
The death grant sits outside the estate. Like most occupational pension death benefits, it is paid at the discretion of the administering authority rather than under the will. This means it bypasses probate and, under current rules, inheritance tax for active members (though see the April 2027 changes for deferred and pensioner members below).
In practice, the fund follows the member’s Expression of Wish form – sometimes called the “Expression of Wish for Death Grant”, “death grant nomination”, or similar. This form, which the member should have completed when joining or after any change in personal circumstances, nominates who should receive the grant and in what proportions. It is advisory rather than legally binding, but in the vast majority of cases it is followed precisely.
The administering authority can normally pay the grant directly to the nominated person without waiting for probate. The fund holds all historical nomination forms – if you are unsure whether one exists, ask them when you make the initial contact.
If no nomination exists, the fund will still make a decision, usually in favour of an obvious dependant such as the surviving spouse or civil partner. However, the process takes longer, and in some cases the grant may be paid into the estate, at which point it falls under probate and may become subject to inheritance tax.
If the nominee has died, if the nominated charity is defunct, or if personal circumstances have changed materially since the form was completed, the fund will exercise its discretion. Common situations include:
- The member nominated their adult child before a later marriage, never updated the form, and now the spouse receives nothing from the grant unless the fund exercises discretion in their favour
- The member nominated a former partner by name and never revoked the form after separation
- The member nominated a charity that has since merged or wound up
Always ask the fund who is named as beneficiary before making any assumptions.
The survivor’s pension
The survivor’s pension is an ongoing income paid for the rest of the recipient’s life and indexed each year in line with the Consumer Prices Index. It is taxable as income.
Rate of survivor’s pension
The survivor’s pension is calculated at 1/160th of the deceased’s pensionable pay for each year of membership.
For post-2014 career average membership, the pensionable pay figure used is the member’s actual pensionable pay each year, built up year by year under the career average scheme. For pre-2014 final salary membership, the calculation uses final pay.
In practice, most members have a mix of both: pre-2014 service under the old final salary rules, and post-2014 service under career average. The fund calculates both portions separately and pays a single combined survivor’s pension.
Additionally, where the member died in service before reaching normal pension age, the survivor’s pension includes an enhancement for the service the member would have built up between death and normal pension age. This significantly increases the value of the survivor’s pension for younger members.
Source: Norfolk Pension Fund – survivor benefits and Highland Pension Fund – survivor benefits. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
Who qualifies for the survivor’s pension
Spouse or civil partner: eligible automatically. The pension is paid for life from the day after the date of death.
Cohabiting partner: eligible if they can demonstrate all four of the following conditions, which must have been continuously in place for at least two years before the date of death:
- Both parties were legally free to marry or enter a civil partnership (meaning neither was married to, or in a civil partnership with, anyone else at the time)
- They were living together as if married or in a civil partnership
- Neither was living with anyone else as if married or in a civil partnership
- One was financially dependent on the other, or they were financially interdependent
The fund will ask for evidence. Useful documents include joint bank statements, joint utility bills, a joint tenancy agreement or mortgage, or similar financial records showing cohabitation and financial connection over the two-year period.
From 1 April 2026, cohabiting partners no longer need to have been formally nominated on a separate form for deaths between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014. For deaths from 1 April 2014 onwards, eligibility is determined by the criteria above. Funds are also required to identify survivors who may have missed out under earlier rules and make backdated payments by January 2028.
Source: West Yorkshire Pension Fund – LGPS death, gov.uk – LGPS survivor benefits guidance. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
Children’s pension
The LGPS pays a children’s pension to dependent children under 18, or under 23 if in full-time education or vocational training, or of any age if they have a permanent impairment that began before age 18 and prevents them from working.
The rate depends on the number of children and whether a survivor’s pension is also being paid:
| One child | Two or more children | |
|---|---|---|
| Survivor’s pension also in payment | 1/320th of pensionable pay × years of service | 1/160th of pensionable pay × years of service (shared equally) |
| No survivor’s pension in payment | 1/240th of pensionable pay × years of service | 1/120th of pensionable pay × years of service (shared equally) |
Where there are two or more children, each receives an equal share of the combined entitlement.
Source: Norfolk Pension Fund – survivor benefits and LGPS Regulations 2013, lgpsregs.org. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
What to send to the fund
Each fund has its own claim process, so treat this list as a starting point. The fund will send you a personalised checklist once you make initial contact.
| Document | When needed |
|---|---|
| Death certificate (original or certified copy) | Always |
| Deceased’s National Insurance number | Always – speeds up locating the records |
| Marriage or civil partnership certificate | If claiming as a spouse or civil partner |
| Evidence of cohabitation and financial interdependency (joint bank statements, utility bills, joint tenancy or mortgage) | If claiming as an unmarried partner |
| Birth certificates for dependent children | If claiming a children’s pension |
| Bank account details (sort code, account number) | For whoever will receive payment |
| Any LGPS correspondence, membership number, or payslips | Helpful but not always required |
Certified copies of documents are accepted alongside originals. A registrar provides several certified copies of the death certificate at the time of registration for a small fee – it is worth ordering extras at that stage to avoid delays later.
How long it takes
| Stage | Typical timing |
|---|---|
| Initial contact with the fund | As early as possible after registering the death |
| Fund acknowledges and sends claim forms | 1–3 weeks from notification |
| Lump sum death grant | 6–12 weeks from receipt of complete documents |
| First survivor’s pension payment | 6–12 weeks from receipt of complete documents |
| Survivor’s pension backdating | Backdated to the day after date of death |
| Cohabiting partner claims | May take longer due to evidence review |
The pension fund will backdate survivor’s pension payments to the day after the date of death, so any delay in the claims process does not permanently reduce what you receive.
The most common source of delay is incomplete documentation: a missing marriage certificate, a name discrepancy between documents, or uncertainty about which fund holds the membership. Having the deceased’s National Insurance number and most recent employer details to hand when you first call makes a significant difference.
There is no strict two-year claims deadline for LGPS death grants in the same way as some other pension schemes. That said, from April 2026 a rule change means that if a grant has not been claimed and paid within two years of the fund being notified, the administering authority is no longer obliged to pay it to the estate. Notify the fund promptly.
The April 2027 IHT change
From 6 April 2027, most pension death benefits will be brought into the estate for inheritance tax purposes. This is a significant change, but the picture for LGPS members is more nuanced than for personal or defined contribution pensions.
Death-in-service lump sums (active members): Following government consultation, the death-in-service benefit paid when an active LGPS member dies – the 3× pensionable pay death grant – is expected to be excluded from the new IHT rules. Active member death grants should remain outside the estate and free of inheritance tax after April 2027.
Death grants for deferred and pensioner members: These are not classified as death-in-service benefits and are expected to fall within the new IHT framework. The 10-year guarantee lump sum payable to the family of a pensioner who died within 10 years of retirement is likely to be in scope. If the estate includes a large deferred or pensioner death grant, it is worth seeking advice from a financial adviser or solicitor once the final secondary legislation is in place.
Survivor’s pensions: The regular income paid to a surviving spouse, civil partner, or eligible cohabiting partner is not affected by the IHT change. Defined benefit survivor pensions from schemes like LGPS are excluded from the new rules.
Source: HMRC – inheritance tax on unused pension funds and death benefits. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
Things to watch out for
Tell Us Once does not cover LGPS. You must contact the fund directly. This is covered in detail above, but it is worth repeating because it catches many families out – and a pension in payment that goes unreported continues paying, with the fund later seeking recovery from the estate.
The 10-year guarantee is only relevant for deaths within 10 years of retirement. If the pensioner drew their pension for more than 10 years before dying, no lump sum death grant is payable. This is not obvious from annual pension statements and surprises families regularly.
The Expression of Wish form overrides the will for the lump sum. If the member nominated an adult child in their Expression of Wish form and never updated it after a divorce and remarriage, the lump sum will go to that child, not the current spouse – unless the fund exercises its discretion otherwise. Always check who is nominated.
Deferred members still have entitlements. If the deceased left local government employment years ago but never drew their LGPS pension, they are a deferred member and death benefits still apply. The fund needs the approximate dates of membership and the name of the employing organisation.
Service at multiple funds. Some people had LGPS membership at two or more different local authorities. Those periods may be held by separate funds. It is worth asking the most recent fund whether any earlier membership was transferred in, or whether a separate fund needs to be contacted independently.
Cohabiting partner claims require evidence. Unlike married or civil-partnered couples, a cohabiting partner must demonstrate the four qualifying conditions. Gathering joint financial documents before contacting the fund will speed up the process considerably.
Survivor’s pension is not automatic. Like the death grant, you must actively submit a claim. The pension does not start without a claim form being submitted. Once the claim is processed, payments are backdated to the day after death.
AVCs may need a separate notification. If the member held Additional Voluntary Contributions – either through the fund’s in-house AVC arrangement or with an external provider (Prudential, Standard Life, or similar) – those may need to be notified separately. Ask the fund when you make initial contact.
From 1 April 2026: equalisation changes. Survivor pensions are now calculated the same way regardless of the sex or sexual orientation of the member or their survivor. The former age 75 cap on death grants has been removed. Funds are also required to identify and contact eligible survivors from earlier years. If you believe the deceased’s family was entitled to benefits that were not paid in earlier years, contact the fund and ask about the access and fairness review.
The McCloud remedy
The McCloud case was an age discrimination legal ruling affecting public sector pension schemes, including LGPS. The remedy requires that members who were in the scheme before 1 April 2012, and who moved to the new 2014 career average section in April 2015, are not disadvantaged by that transition.
For LGPS death benefits, the practical impact is limited for most families. Small technical changes were made to the regulations to ensure the McCloud remedy works correctly within the scheme’s benefit calculations. The fund will apply these automatically when assessing death benefits – you do not need to request McCloud calculations separately.
If the member had a long service history spanning the 2008, 2014, and post-2015 scheme sections, the fund may take additional time to complete the calculation correctly. If you are concerned about the timeline, ask the fund specifically whether McCloud-related checks apply to the member’s record.
Source: Local Pensions Partnership Administration – access and fairness changes. Last verified: 6 June 2026.
Summary
If an LGPS member has died:
- Find the right fund at lgpsmember.org/contact-your-fund using the region and employer location. This is the essential first step – there is no national number.
- Contact the fund directly. Give them the deceased’s National Insurance number, date of death, and last employer. They will confirm what benefits are payable and send claim forms.
- Ask about the Expression of Wish form. Find out whether a nomination exists for the death grant, and who is nominated.
- Gather documents early. Death certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate (if applicable), and for cohabiting partners, evidence of the qualifying relationship over at least two years before death.
- Claim actively. Neither the death grant nor the survivor’s pension is paid automatically – you must submit a claim.
- Check for multiple LGPS records. If the deceased worked for more than one local authority, there may be more than one fund involved.
- Do not rely on Tell Us Once. The LGPS is not included – contact the fund directly, separately from any Tell Us Once notification you make when registering the death.
For general guidance on dealing with pensions after a bereavement, see our guide to what happens to a pension when someone dies. If the deceased was an NHS worker, see our companion guide on how to notify NHS Pensions. For teachers and lecturers, see how to notify the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. For civil servants, see how to claim a Civil Service pension after a bereavement. For former members of the Armed Forces, see how to claim Armed Forces Pension benefits when someone dies. For police officers, see how to claim a Police Pension after a bereavement.
For the wider estate process, including whether probate is needed and how inheritance tax is calculated, see our probate hub and inheritance tax guides.