Pension Death Benefits for Unmarried Partners: What Cohabiting Couples Need to Know (2026/27)

Why Marital Status Doesn't Automatically Decide Who Gets Your Pension

Most workplace and personal pensions in the UK — including defined contribution schemes and SIPPs — are structured so that the scheme trustees, not a will or intestacy rules, decide who receives the death benefits. This is deliberate: it usually keeps the payout outside your estate for Inheritance Tax purposes.

For married couples and civil partners, this discretionary structure rarely causes problems in practice, because scheme defaults and trustee custom tend to favour a surviving spouse. For unmarried cohabiting partners, the picture is very different. There is no legal presumption that a partner — even one you've lived with for 20 years and raised children with — has any claim on your pension. The trustees will look for evidence of your wishes, and the clearest evidence is a completed expression of wishes form.

This matters because cohabiting couples already lack many of the protections married couples take for granted: no automatic inheritance under intestacy rules, no Inheritance Tax spousal exemption, and (as covered in a companion piece) no Additional Permitted Subscription for ISAs. Pensions are one of the few areas where a simple form can close much of that gap.

to see how your own pot might grow, and revisit your nomination whenever the numbers change materially.

Worked Example: A £180,000 Pot, Partner Aged 68

Consider Marek and Alina, an unmarried couple who have lived together for 18 years. Marek has a personal pension worth £180,000. He has correctly named Alina as his sole beneficiary on his expression of wishes form.

Scenario A: Marek dies aged 68 (before age 75)

Because Marek died before age 75 and the £180,000 is comfortably within the £1,073,100 Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance, Alina can receive the pension as a tax-free lump sum, or move it into a beneficiary's drawdown account and withdraw it over time completely free of income tax.

Scenario B: Marek instead dies aged 78 (at or after age 75)

The age-75 rule is the single biggest factor in how much tax is paid — not whether Marek and Alina were married. A basic-rate taxpayer withdrawing the whole £180,000 in one go after a post-75 death could easily be pushed into the 40% higher-rate band for that tax year, since Personal Allowance (£12,570) and basic rate band (up to £50,270) would be quickly exhausted. Drawing the money down gradually, £20,000–£30,000 a year, keeps more of it within the basic rate band.

Pre-75 vs Post-75: A Side-by-Side Comparison

The reassuring point for unmarried couples is that the tax treatment itself does not discriminate by marital status. Once a partner is validly nominated, HMRC and the scheme treat them the same as they would a spouse. The discrimination cohabiting couples face is entirely about the lack of an automatic legal right to be nominated in the first place — which is exactly why the expression of wishes form is non-negotiable.

The April 2027 Inheritance Tax Change to Watch

From April 2027, the government plans to bring most unused pension funds and death benefits within the value of a person's estate for Inheritance Tax purposes. This is a significant forthcoming change and is not yet in force for the 2026/27 tax year. Once it takes effect, a £180,000 pension pot could, in some circumstances, be counted alongside other assets against the nil-rate band (£325,000) and residence nil-rate band (£175,000), potentially creating an Inheritance Tax liability where none currently exists — particularly relevant for larger estates.

Because unmarried partners do not benefit from the spousal exemption that shelters transfers between married couples from Inheritance Tax entirely, cohabiting couples should watch this reform closely. A pension passing to an unmarried partner could, after April 2027, face a 40% Inheritance Tax charge on amounts above the available nil-rate bands, in addition to any income tax due under the pre/post-75 rules described above. Reviewing your will, nominations and overall estate plan well before the change takes effect is worthwhile.

Practical Steps for Cohabiting Couples

1. Complete (or update) an expression of wishes form with every pension provider — workplace pension, SIPP, and any old pots from previous employers.
2. Check each pension separately. Nominations don't transfer automatically between providers; a form filled in for one job's pension doesn't cover a new employer's scheme.
3. Write a will. While it won't override the pension trustees' discretion, it strengthens the overall picture of your wishes and covers assets that do form part of your estate.
4. Review after major life events — moving in together, having children, buying a house, or a partner leaving paid work to raise a family.
5. Model both pre- and post-75 scenarios using a
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   so you understand roughly what your partner would receive, and when.

Because unmarried partners sit outside the automatic protections married couples receive, the paperwork carries more weight. A five-minute form, kept up to date, is often the difference between a partner receiving a full, tax-free pension pot and receiving nothing at all.