NILGOSC death benefits: death grant and survivor pensions

The Local Government Pension Scheme in Northern Ireland, run by NILGOSC, pays a lump sum death grant and survivor pensions when a member dies. The grant is three times annual assumed pensionable pay for an active member, five years’ deferred pension for a deferred member, and for a pensioner it is ten times the annual pension less what has already been paid. The details below come from NILGOSC’s April 2025 Member Guide to the 2015 scheme. Check the current guide before relying on them, and see LGPS in Northern Ireland for how the scheme works generally.

The death grant

Member’s status	Lump sum death grant
Active member (dying in service)	three times annual assumed pensionable pay; for part-time staff, three times annual assumed pensionable part-time pay
Deferred member	five years’ deferred pension
Pensioner, where less than 10 years’ pension has been paid	ten times your annual pension, including any pension given up for a tax-free cash lump sum, minus the pension already paid and the tax-free lump sum you took

There is a slight modification for any part of the pension that relates to membership before 1 April 2015. If you draw a pension and are also an active member or have a separate deferred benefit, only the higher death grant is paid. That means the sum of the active grants, or the sum of the deferred and pensioner grants, whichever is larger.

Who receives the grant

NILGOSC asks you to complete a Death Grant Expression of Wish form, which says who you would like the grant paid to. You can do this on My NILGOSC Pension Online or by downloading form LGS20. The guide says all members are strongly advised to complete it and keep it up to date, and a new form is needed if your marital circumstances change.

NILGOSC takes your wishes into account, but under the regulations it keeps absolute discretion over who receives the grant. The guide says this discretion lets the grant normally be paid free of inheritance tax.

Survivor pensions

A pension is payable to a surviving spouse, civil partner or eligible cohabiting partner. For an active member who dies in service, the guide gives it as the total of four elements:

• 1/160th of pensionable pay (or assumed pensionable pay) for each year of membership after 31 March 2015
• 49/160ths of any pension credited after a transfer in
• 1/160th of assumed pensionable pay for each year you would have built up between death and normal pension age
• 1/160th of final pay for each year of membership up to 31 March 2015

For a deferred member the same approach applies without the assumed future years. For a pensioner it uses the pay on which your pension was calculated, including any enhancement if you retired on ill-health grounds. The guide notes a survivor’s pension could be lower if you marry or form a civil partnership after leaving the scheme or after retirement. The ill-health retirement guide covers that enhancement.

The pension for a cohabiting partner is based only on membership after 5 April 1988. NILGOSC’s overview says civil partner pensions began in February 2006, and cohabiting partner pensions from 1 April 2009, with the deferred-member page saying that applies only if you were an active contributing member from that date.

Eligible cohabiting partners

Your partner, of either sex, qualifies if the conditions in the guide are met. You must be able to marry or form a civil partnership with them, and either they are financially dependent on you or you are financially interdependent, meaning you rely on joint income to support your standard of living even if you do not contribute equally. The first condition must apply at the date of death. The others must have applied for a continuous period of at least two years ending on the date you died. Your partner has to provide evidence of dependence or interdependence. There is no longer any need to nominate a cohabiting partner, since the right is automatic if the conditions are met.

Children’s pensions

Pensions are payable for eligible children. The guide counts your natural child (born at the latest within 12 months of your death), your adopted child, and a step-child or child accepted as a member of your family who was dependent on you. The child must be under 18, or aged 18 to 22 and in full-time education or vocational training, or unable to work because of a physical or mental impairment (under 23, or an impairment NILGOSC’s medical practitioner considers likely to be permanent, and dependent on you at death). The amounts are not quoted here, so ask NILGOSC for the figure that applies.

What to check

• Your Expression of Wish form, and whether your circumstances have changed since you filled it in.
• Whether you have a deferred benefit as well as an active one, since only the higher grant is paid.
• For an unmarried partner, whether you can show financial dependence or interdependence for two years.
• Your latest annual benefit statement, which shows your own figures.

NILGOSC can answer questions about a particular record, and the pension and part-time staff guide explains how reduced hours affect what you build up. For council jobs in Northern Ireland, see council jobs in Northern Ireland.