Can we inherit state pensions after 30 years living together, or do we need a civil partnership? Steve Webb replies

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I am 69 and claiming my state pension. My partner is 65 and not yet claiming his pension, which will be available from December 2024.

In the event of anything happening to either of us, regarding claiming part of a deceased person's state pension, could you please advise if we need to enter a civil partnership or would evidence of our living together for over 30 years suffice?

I have tried to find information from the Gov.UK website but it is a minefield. I am not sure if we have to enter into a civil partnership before my partner retires or after.

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Planning for later life: Can we inherit state pensions after 30 years living together?

Steve Webb replies: As a general principle, the state pension system divides the world into two groups – those who are married (or in a civil partnership) and those who are not.

Even if you have been living together for 30 years, the state pension system is not interested – you are still 'single' in the eyes of the state.

In principle, therefore, for someone to derive state pension rights from their partner, they would need to have been married or in a civil partnership. (For brevity I will simply refer to 'being married' from now on, but this should be read as including civil partnerships).

For example, where both parties come under the 'old' (pre April 2016) state pension system, being married is the key to being able to benefit from the National Insurance record of your partner following their death.

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However, I see that both you and your partner come under the new state pension system.

Even if you had been married for a long time, the ability to inherit when one partner dies is substantially reduced in the new state pension system.

The main situation in which you can inherit anything is where the person who died had a pension in excess of the standard flat rate (currently £203.85 per week).

This excess slice is called a 'protected payment' and the surviving spouse can inherit half of this 'protected payment'.

Unfortunately, this provision only applies where the marriage was in force when the new state pension was introduced on 6th April 2016.

This means that marrying now would not bring you into the scope of the inheritance rules as far as the state pension system is concerned.

There are however a number of other reasons why being married might still be to your advantage.

- Whereas getting married now may not help with your state pension inheritance rights, it may improve your position when it comes to company pensions.

Most company pension schemes will pay a pension to a surviving spouse whereas provision for surviving (unmarried) partners may be more limited and can vary from scheme to scheme.

- With regard to the income tax system, married couples can potentially benefit from the 'marriage allowance' in cases where one spouse is a non-taxpayer and the other is a basic rate taxpayer.

The lower earning spouse can transfer 10 per cent of his/her personal allowance (where this is not being used) to the higher earning spouse, thereby reducing the couple's total tax bill.

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You cannot do this if you are simply cohabiting. More details on the marriage allowance can be found at: Marriage Allowance: How it works.

- There are certain inheritance tax breaks for married couples which do not apply where couples are cohabiting.

In particular, if the first member of a married couple dies and does not use up all of their standard 'nil rate band' and/or their 'residence nil rate band', the balance can be transferred to a surviving spouse.

> Inheritance tax explained: Who pays and how much

As well as these purely financial advantages, a couple may find it easier to be married when it comes to dealing with matters after the death of one of the partners.

For example, if someone dies without making a will, a surviving spouse usually has automatic inheritance rights which do not apply where the deceased was not married.

Being part of a married couple can also help in situations where someone is seriously ill and there are questions around the treatment of the person who is ill.

A hospital may give far more weight to the views of a spouse than they would an unmarried partner, even if they have been lifelong partners.

It is, of course, ultimately a personal matter between you and your partner if you decide that you want to marry or enter into a civil partnership.

And my understanding is that getting married now would be unlikely to make any difference to your state pension position.

But, as I have explained, there are a number of other respects in which there may be financial and non-financial advantages to being married.