Death in retirement

If you die after you’ve retired, any benefits your loved ones receive will depend on which section you were a member of. These benefits will be paid in addition to any benefits you built up before 1 August 2017.

If you have a DC account and you use it to buy a pension at retirement, you can choose to provide a pension for your loved ones when you die – see What will you receive?

If you have built up any DB pension and you die after you’ve retired, your loved ones will receive the following:

Lump sum

If you die within five years of starting to take your pension, a lump sum will usually be paid to your loved ones.

The total amount that they might receive will be the equivalent remainder of the next five years’ pension payments (ignoring any future increases that would have been paid in that period).

You should complete a Nomination Form to let us know who you’d like to receive this benefit. While we do our best to take your wishes into account, the Trustees have ‘discretion’ (the final say) when it comes to who should receive any payment. To help ensure that your wishes are met, please make sure that your Nomination Form is kept up to date.

Dependant's pension

Your spouse, or civil partner would receive some of your DB pension at the date of your death (adjusted to the level it would have been if you had not taken any cash when you retired or surrendered any pension to provide additional dependant’s pension).

If your spouse, civil partner or financial dependant is more than 10½ years younger than you, the dependant’s pension will be reduced to allow for the fact that it is likely to be paid for longer.

If you are not married or in a civil partnership, or you have been separated for at least two years, the Trustee has the discretion to pay this benefit to one or more financial dependants. However, if you are still married or in a civil partnership or have not been separated for at least 2 years, a minimum pension must be paid to your spouse or civil partner. If you would like the Trustee to consider a dependant for this benefit, you must complete a Dependant's Pension Nomination Form.

As part of your options at retirement, you may be able to take a lower pension for yourself in exchange for providing a higher pension for your dependants when you die. Full details are available on request from Nestlé Pensions.

Children's pensions

If you have dependent children, they will receive a percentage of your DB pension at retirement (adjusted to the level it would have been if you had not taken any cash when you retired or surrendered any pension to provide additional dependant’s pension). The percentage depends on how many eligible children you have and whether or not a dependant’s pension is being paid too.

The Fund will provide a pension for any of your dependent children up to age 18, or 23 if in full-time education. This pension will also be paid to eligible children of any age who, in the opinion of the Trustee at the time of your death, are unable to support themselves financially due to a physical or mental disability. The Trustee has the discretion to pay pensions to eligible children. If you have no dependent children at the time of your death, no dependent children’s pension(s) will be paid.

All pensions paid to your loved ones

The pensions that are paid will be a percentage of your pension at retirement, ignoring any level pension option and any reductions made because you chose to provide a cash sum or an increased dependant’s pension, and increased to allow for any pension increases since you retired.

The total pensions that are paid must not exceed 100% of the pension you were receiving before your death. If we need to restrict any benefits, we will restrict the children’s pensions.

No pension can be paid to a spouse, civil partner, dependant or child if you selected the single person's option on retirement.

The spouse's, civil partner's, dependant's and children's pensions will be increased in the same way as other Fund pensions (see Pension increases in retirement for more information).