Written question asked by Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 2 July 2026. It was answered by Torsten Bell (Labour) on Tuesday, 7 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pensions: Cohabitation

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of current pension regulations in allowing individuals to nominate (a) cohabiting siblings and (b) other non-spousal family members as beneficiaries of survivor pension benefits; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of legislative changes to extend nomination rights to a wider range of long-term cohabiting relationships.

Answer

The rules vary from scheme to scheme, but the majority of schemes will provide some form of survivor benefit for dependants in the event of a member's death. These may be payable to surviving spouses, civil partners or unmarried partners (often with a financial dependency or inter-dependency requirement for the latter), and dependent children, depending on the scheme rules. Some scheme rules also allow for trustee discretion to be used on individual cases.

The rules governing what surviving spouses, or partners might receive following the death of a member are set out in individual scheme rules and in any overriding legislation.

There are no current plans to change current legislation.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 14712
Session: 2026-27
Subjects: Cohabitation Pensions Relatives Regulation
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Pensions: Cohabitation

Secondary information

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