Teachers' Pension death grant: 3x salary, but Tell Us Once won't claim it

The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) is one of the largest occupational pension schemes in the UK, with around 2 million members in England and Wales – serving teachers and lecturers in state schools, sixth-form colleges, further education, and many academies and independent schools that have opted in. When a member dies, the scheme pays a lump sum death grant and an ongoing survivor’s pension that together can be worth several times the member’s annual salary plus a lifetime income for a spouse or partner.

This guide covers what to do first, how to notify Teachers’ Pensions, what benefits are payable depending on whether the member was active, deferred, or already drawing their pension, and the practical steps that catch families out. It is written for spouses, civil partners, cohabiting partners, and adult children dealing with the practical side of a bereavement involving a TPS member.

Teachers’ Pensions is administered by Capita on behalf of the Department for Education. It is a separate scheme from the NHS Pension and the Local Government Pension Scheme, even though many people have worked in more than one public sector role.

Quick reference:

• Teachers’ Pensions bereavement line: 0345 606 6166 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm)
• WhatsApp: 07545 932 848 (message only – no calls; up to two working days for a reply)
• Online death notification: teacherspensions.co.uk/forms/notification-of-death
• Bereavement hub: teacherspensions.co.uk – recently bereaved
• What to have ready: the deceased’s Teachers’ Pensions reference number or National Insurance number, date of birth, date of death, and the name of their most recent school or college
• Tell Us Once: Teachers’ Pensions does not participate in the Tell Us Once service. You need to contact the scheme directly, even if you have used Tell Us Once for other government departments.

What to do first

When a TPS member dies, there are five immediate steps to work through. None of them is complicated, but the order matters because some payments are backdated and others have time limits.

1. Notify Teachers’ Pensions – use the online form or call the bereavement line as soon as practical (see below). This starts the clock on the two-year payment window (missing it triggers an HMRC tax charge of up to 45% on the death grant).
2. Ask whether a Death Grant Nomination is on file – this determines who receives the lump sum. An outdated nomination can mean the money goes to the wrong person.
3. Order several copies of the death certificate – at the registry office, ask for at least four or five certified copies (around £12.50 each from a registrar). Most families need three to five to deal with banks, pensions, and probate simultaneously.
4. Gather identity documents for the survivor – marriage or civil partnership certificate if claiming as a spouse, or joint financial documents if claiming as an unmarried partner.
5. Check for other pension schemes – Teachers’ Pensions cannot notify other schemes on your behalf. If the deceased also paid into the NHS Pension, the LGPS, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, or a private pension, each must be contacted separately.

How to notify Teachers’ Pensions of a death

Teachers’ Pensions urges relatives to make contact as soon as practical after the death. There are three main routes:

1. Online notification (recommended)

The fastest option is the online Notification of Death form at teacherspensions.co.uk/forms/notification-of-death. It takes around five minutes to complete and has two parts: Part A is for the deceased member’s details, Part B is for the person reporting the death.

Once submitted, the scheme will write to you with details of its secure portal, where you can complete the formal application for death benefits and upload supporting documents (death certificate, marriage certificate, and so on). The portal removes the need to send originals by post.

2. Phone

Call 0345 606 6166 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm). An operator will take initial details and post you a paper application form to complete and return. This route is slower than the online portal but is the right option if you would prefer to speak to someone.

3. Paper form

Download the “Death notification and application for death benefits” form from the bereavement section of the Teachers’ Pensions website and send it back by post. The form is around 20 pages because it combines initial notification with the full application for benefits in a single document.

4. WhatsApp

For brief queries, Teachers’ Pensions accepts WhatsApp messages on 07545 932 848. Replies can take up to two working days. The number does not accept phone calls.

What happens after you notify them

Teachers’ Pensions will:

1. Verify the death with the deceased’s employer (the school, college, or local authority).
2. Confirm whether the member was active, deferred, or in pension payment, and identify any periods of service in both the final salary scheme (pre-2015 in most cases) and the career average (CARE) scheme.
3. Write to potential beneficiaries with a personalised explanation of what is payable and what evidence they need to provide.
4. Calculate any overpayment of pension if the deceased was receiving payments (usually a small amount covering the days between the last payment and the date of death) or any residue still to be paid up to that date.

Source: Teachers’ Pensions – letting us know and informing Teachers’ Pensions when someone passes away. Last verified: June 2026.

What documents you’ll need

Teachers’ Pensions will send a personalised list once you have notified them. Typically you will need:

• Death certificate – original or certified copy. A registrar provides certified copies for a small fee at the time of registration; certified copies from a solicitor are also accepted. Photocopies are not.
• Teachers’ Pensions reference number or National Insurance number – on any TP correspondence, the annual benefits statement, or a payslip from Teachers’ Pensions if the member was retired.
• Marriage or civil partnership certificate – if you are claiming as a spouse or civil partner.
• Evidence of cohabitation and financial interdependency – if you are claiming as an unmarried partner. Joint bank statements, utility bills, a joint tenancy or mortgage agreement, and proof of address at the same property are the usual items.
• Birth certificates for any dependent children – if claiming a children’s pension.
• Bank account details – sort code and account number for whoever will receive the lump sum and the ongoing survivor’s pension.
• Grant of probate or letters of administration – only required if no death grant nomination is in place and the lump sum is being paid into the estate.

When you order copies of the death certificate at the registry office, ask for several at once. Each one costs around £12.50 and most families need three to five copies to deal with banks, pensions, and probate simultaneously.

Lump sum death grant

The headline payment from Teachers’ Pensions is the death grant. The amount depends entirely on the member’s status at the date of death and which part of the scheme they belonged to.

Death grant by member category

Source: Teachers’ Pensions – death in service FAQs and family benefits FAQs. Last verified: June 2026.

If the member died in service (active member)

For an active member – broadly, someone who was still teaching and paying contributions, or was on approved absence such as maternity, paternity, or sick leave at half pay or more – the death grant is three times the member’s annual full-time equivalent salary at the date of death.

This applies in both the career average (CARE) scheme and the final salary scheme. The full-time equivalent calculation matters for part-time and supply teachers: even if the member was only working two days a week, the grant uses what they would have earned at full hours.

The grant is also payable if the member died:

• Within 12 months of leaving teaching due to ill-health and was entitled to ill-health benefits.
• On approved leave with at least half pay.
• During pensionable service in the reserve forces.

If the member had left teaching but had not yet drawn their pension (deferred member)

A deferred member is someone who built up TPS benefits during their teaching career, then left the profession before drawing their pension. They may have moved to a different job, taken early retirement outside the scheme, or simply stopped teaching.

For a deferred member who has not yet reached normal pension age, the death grant calculation differs from the in-service formula:

• Final salary scheme: average salary multiplied by 30/80 (equivalent to the lump sum the member would have received on normal retirement).
• Career average (CARE) scheme: 2.25 times the accrued annual pension the member had built up at the date of leaving.

If the deferred member had already reached normal pension age but had not yet claimed their pension at the date of death, Teachers’ Pensions treats the situation as if the member had retired the day before death. Benefits are paid out accordingly – the lump sum and pension entitlement as at the deemed retirement date – rather than a separate death grant.

A survivor’s pension is still payable to an eligible spouse, civil partner, or qualifying cohabiting partner.

If the member was already drawing their pension (pensioner member)

For a pensioner who dies within the first five years of retirement, Teachers’ Pensions pays a supplementary death grant equal to five times the annual rate of pension at the date of death, less any pension already paid.

In practice, this means the beneficiaries receive whatever is left of the first five years of pension payments as a lump sum. If the pensioner had been drawing their pension for more than five years before dying, no lump sum death grant is payable – the survivor’s pension is the only ongoing benefit.

Members who took phased retirement (drawing part of their pension while continuing to work) and died while still in pensionable service receive the active member grant of 3× full-time equivalent salary, less any retirement lump sum already paid, plus a supplementary lump sum if death falls within five years of any earlier phased payment.

Who receives the death grant

The Death Grant Nomination form

The death grant is paid at the scheme administrator’s discretion, which keeps it outside the estate for probate and inheritance tax purposes (see the IHT section below).

The scheme follows the member’s Death Grant Nomination form. Members can nominate any individual or individuals to receive the grant. If a valid nomination is in place at the date of death, the lump sum is paid directly to that nominee, without going through the will or probate. If no nomination exists, the grant goes to the spouse or civil partner by default; if there is no spouse or civil partner, it is paid to the member’s estate.

Nominations can be made in favour of:

• A spouse, civil partner, or cohabiting partner.
• One or more individuals – children, grandchildren, siblings, or friends.
• Multiple people in specified shares.

Note: unlike some pension schemes, TPS nominations cannot be made in favour of a charity or a trust – only individuals.

Nominations can be changed at any time. A nomination made before marriage or a change of civil partnership is not automatically updated by the life event. This is a common problem: a member who nominated a sibling at the start of their career, then married later and never updated the form, leaves the death grant to the sibling rather than the spouse. If you are not sure whether the deceased completed a nomination, ask Teachers’ Pensions when you call – they hold all records on file.

Tax on the death grant

Death before age 75

If the member died under the age of 75, the death grant is paid free of income tax to the beneficiary, provided it is paid within two years of Teachers’ Pensions being notified of the death.

If payment is delayed beyond two years from notification (typically because the claim was not progressed promptly), an HMRC tax charge applies on the amount paid. This is a notification deadline, not a claim deadline: as long as you tell Teachers’ Pensions about the death reasonably quickly, you have time to gather documents without losing the tax-free status.

Death at age 75 or over

If the member died aged 75 or over, the tax treatment changes. There is no income tax-free allowance on lump sum death benefits for members who have reached 75. The death grant is taxed at the recipient’s marginal rate of income tax – meaning it is added to the recipient’s other income for the tax year and taxed accordingly.

This is an HMRC rule that applies to all registered pension schemes, not a TPS-specific policy. For higher or additional-rate taxpayers receiving a large death grant, the effective tax rate can be 40% or 45%.

Source: HMRC – pension death benefits. Last verified: June 2026.

Inheritance tax and the April 2027 changes

From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits will be brought into the deceased’s estate for inheritance tax. For defined benefit schemes like TPS, HM Treasury’s 2025 consultation response clarified the position:

• Death-in-service lump sums – the 3× full-time equivalent salary grant paid because the member died as an active TPS member – have been excluded from the new IHT rules. They continue to sit outside the estate for IHT purposes.
• Survivor’s pensions – the regular adult dependant pension and children’s pension – are unaffected. Spouse and civil partner survivor pensions also benefit from the existing spousal exemption.
• Deferred and pensioner death grants – the 30/80 or 2.25× grant for a deferred member, and the 5× supplementary death grant for a pensioner who dies within five years of retirement, are expected to fall within the new IHT framework from April 2027.

From the same date, pension scheme administrators must provide a valuation of any in-scope death benefits within four weeks of being notified, so personal representatives can include the figure in the IHT account.

Source: HMRC – inheritance tax: unused pension funds and death benefits. Last verified: June 2026. The detailed secondary legislation is still being finalised – take specific advice if a large deferred or pensioner death grant is involved.

Survivor’s pension (adult dependant)

A regular pension is paid to an eligible surviving partner for the rest of their life, indexed each year to inflation in line with the consumer prices index. It is taxable as income.

Who counts as an eligible partner

• Spouse: automatically eligible.
• Civil partner: automatically eligible.
• Cohabiting partner (unmarried, not in a civil partnership): eligible only if specific conditions are met (see below).

A cohabiting partner does not need a separate nomination form to qualify – the scheme assesses eligibility based on evidence at the time of claim. Gather joint financial documents before contacting the scheme.

Cohabiting partner eligibility

To qualify for an adult survivor’s pension as an unmarried partner, all of the following conditions must be met at the date of the member’s death:

1. The member had at least two years of pensionable TPS service on or after 1 January 2007 – service before that date does not count toward the cohabiting partner entitlement.
2. The couple had lived together continuously for at least two years before the date of death.
3. They were financially interdependent, or one was financially dependent on the other.
4. They were both legally free to marry or form a civil partnership (i.e. neither was currently married or in a civil partnership with someone else).
5. The relationship was exclusive – both parties were committed to each other to the exclusion of all others.

If these conditions are met, the partner can claim the adult survivor’s pension. Evidence required typically includes: joint bank statements showing shared financial management, utility bills in both names at the same address, a joint tenancy agreement or mortgage, and proof that both parties resided at the same property. Without that evidence, the claim will stall.

If the member married, remarried, or entered a civil partnership after they retired, the survivor’s pension is calculated using only service from 6 April 1978 onwards, not the member’s full career.

How much the survivor’s pension is

Career average (CARE) scheme – service from 1 April 2015 onwards:

The long-term survivor’s pension is 37.5% of the career average pension the member had accrued at the date of death. For an active member who died before retirement, this uses the enhanced pension – the scheme calculates as though the member had continued in service up to their normal pension age, significantly increasing the pension for the families of younger members.

Final salary scheme – service before 1 April 2015:

The long-term survivor’s pension is 1/160th of the final average salary for each year of survivor benefits service. Survivor benefits service typically equals the member’s reckonable service.

If the member had service in both schemes (which most teachers who joined before 2015 do), Teachers’ Pensions calculates the survivor’s pension under each scheme and pays the combined total as a single monthly payment.

Death-in-service enhancement

If the member died in service, the survivor’s pension is enhanced rather than being based only on the pension the member had built up. In the career average scheme, the enhancement adds 37.5% of the additional pension that would have accrued from the date of death to normal pension age (using half of the projected remaining service multiplied by 1/57th of the member’s pensionable salary). This means a 30-year-old teacher who dies in service generates a substantially larger survivor’s pension than the same teacher at 62.

Short-term and long-term pensions

For the first three months after death, Teachers’ Pensions pays the survivor’s pension at the full rate of the member’s own pension (or full pensionable salary for an in-service death) rather than the long-term rate. This “short-term pension” is designed to bridge the immediate period after bereavement. After three months, payments drop to the long-term rate.

If there are dependent children but no surviving adult partner, the short-term pension to the children lasts six months rather than three, before reducing to the children’s long-term pension.

Source: Teachers’ Pensions – family benefits FAQs and death in service. Last verified: June 2026.

Children’s pension

A children’s pension is payable to dependent children for as long as they meet the age and education conditions.

Children’s pension rates (career average scheme):

For final salary scheme service, the children’s pension is calculated as 1/320th of the member’s final average salary per year of reckonable service for one child (when an adult pension is also paid), or 1/160th for two or more children.

Age limits:

• If the member’s pension began before 6 April 2006: children’s pension continues until the child reaches age 17 or leaves full-time education, whichever is later.
• If the member’s pension began on or after 6 April 2006: continues until age 17, or until age 23 at the latest if the child remains in full-time education or training.

A child who is permanently incapacitated before they reach the cut-off age may continue to receive a pension beyond 23 for as long as the incapacity lasts.

A children’s pension stops when the child marries or enters a civil partnership, takes up substantial employment, or reaches the age limit. It does not transfer to anyone else when it ends.

How long it takes

Once Teachers’ Pensions has all the documents, realistic timings are:

• Death grant: typically paid within 4 to 8 weeks of the scheme receiving the completed application and supporting documents.
• Short-term survivor’s pension: first payment within around 6 weeks, backdated to the day after the date of death.
• Long-term survivor’s pension: begins automatically three months after death, paid monthly thereafter.
• Children’s pension: similar timeline to the adult survivor’s pension.

The biggest delays come from missing or unclear documents – an unreadable date on a death certificate, a marriage certificate in a former name, a cohabiting partner claim with insufficient evidence of joint financial life, or uncertainty about which periods of service apply.

There is a hard two-year deadline for the death grant. If the grant is not paid within two years of Teachers’ Pensions being notified of the death, an HMRC tax charge of up to 45% applies when it is eventually paid out. This is a notification deadline, not a claim deadline: as long as the scheme has been told about the death promptly, you have plenty of time to gather paperwork.

Tips and things to watch out for

A few practical points come up repeatedly in TPS bereavements:

Tell Us Once does not cover TPS. Even if you have used Tell Us Once when registering the death, you still need to contact Teachers’ Pensions separately. Many families assume otherwise and end up delaying the claim by weeks.

Check whether a Death Grant Nomination is on file. Before assuming the spouse will receive the lump sum, ask the scheme. An out-of-date nomination naming a sibling or an ex-partner overrides what the will says and overrides the default spouse entitlement.

Nominations do not auto-update after marriage. A member who nominated someone before marrying may never have updated their nomination. The death grant would go to the original nominee, not the spouse.

Cohabiting partners need evidence, not just declarations. An unmarried partner must show financial interdependency through joint accounts, bills, and tenancy or mortgage paperwork. Without that evidence the claim will stall.

The service-from-2007 rule catches cohabiting partners out. A qualifying surviving partner entitlement only counts TPS service on or after 1 January 2007. A member who left teaching before that date and had no post-2007 service means their cohabiting partner has no entitlement to the adult survivor’s pension, regardless of how long they had lived together.

Part-time and supply teachers still get the full death-in-service grant. The 3× calculation uses full-time equivalent salary, so a teacher working three days a week gets the same grant as a full-time colleague on the same pay scale.

Gaps in supply teaching can matter. A supply teacher with breaks in service may have moved in and out of active member status. If the gap covered the date of death, Teachers’ Pensions may treat the member as deferred rather than active, which changes the death grant calculation significantly. The scheme relies on employers to keep records updated; if you suspect the record is wrong, ask for a review.

Members who paid AVCs (Prudential Teachers’ AVC). Additional Voluntary Contributions held through the Prudential TPS AVC arrangement are separate from the main scheme. The AVC pot is paid under its own discretionary process – you will need to contact Prudential directly as well as Teachers’ Pensions.

Members with NHS or LGPS service as well. Many teachers also have service in the NHS Pension (school nurses, university lecturers in medical faculties) or the LGPS (teaching assistants, support staff, or earlier careers in local authority adult education). Each scheme has to be notified separately. There is no automatic sharing between them.

Married after retirement: only post-1978 service counts. If the member married or entered a civil partnership after they had retired, the survivor’s pension uses only service from 6 April 1978 onwards. For long-serving teachers, this can reduce the survivor’s pension noticeably.

Death before age 75 vs at or after age 75. If the member was under 75 at death, the death grant is income-tax free (paid within two years of notification). At or after 75, it is taxed at the recipient’s marginal income tax rate. This is an HMRC rule that affects all registered pension schemes, not just TPS.

Summary

If a Teachers’ Pension Scheme member has died:

1. Submit the online death notification at teacherspensions.co.uk/forms/notification-of-death, or call 0345 606 6166 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm).
2. Have ready the deceased’s Teachers’ Pensions reference number or National Insurance number, date of birth, date of death, and the name of their last school or college.
3. Ask whether a Death Grant Nomination is on file and who is named.
4. Gather documents: death certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate (or cohabitation evidence), and birth certificates for dependent children.
5. Claim the survivor’s pension – it does not start automatically. The dependant application form must be completed.
6. Notify other schemes separately if the deceased also had NHS, LGPS, or private pension membership.

For the wider picture on pensions after a death, see what happens to a pension when someone dies. For the rest of the estate process, see our probate hub and inheritance tax guides. For other public sector schemes, see our companion guides on NHS Pensions, the LGPS, the Armed Forces Pension Scheme, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and the Police Pension Scheme.

Teachers’ Pensions has a dedicated bereavement team and the process, once started, is well-handled. Take it one form at a time.