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The Civil Service Pension Scheme covers civil servants across government departments. The current section is alpha; the legacy sections are classic, classic plus, premium and nuvos, and there is also partnership, a defined contribution alternative. When a member dies, their family may be able to claim a death benefit lump sum and, in many cases, an ongoing partner's pension. Which rules apply depends on which section the member was in. The scheme is administered by Capita, which took over from MyCSP on 1 December 2025.
Often no. This is not because the scheme is a trust — it is a statutory scheme with no trustees — but because the regulations give the scheme manager a discretion. Regulation 124 of the alpha regulations says the scheme manager may pay a lump sum death benefit to the people the member nominated, to the member's personal representatives, or to both. Where it pays a nominee, no Grant of Probate is needed.
The exception arises where there is no nomination and no eligible dependants. In that situation, Civil Service Pensions may pay the lump sum to the estate. If this happens, you may need to apply for probate before the funds are released. Our guide on the probate threshold explains when probate is required for estate assets.
The amount of the lump sum depends on which scheme the member was in:
A surviving spouse, civil partner, or eligible partner may be entitled to an ongoing pension. In alpha this is 37.5% of the member's pension, whether the member died in service, deferred or in retirement (regulations 108 to 110). The legacy sections use different rates, so check the guide for the section the member was in. The pension is paid for life — except that in classic it stops if the surviving spouse or civil partner remarries or forms a new partnership.
A child's pension normally stops at 17 if the member was in classic, or 18 in classic plus, premium, nuvos and alpha. It can continue to 23 while the child is in full-time education or vocational training, and for life where the Scheme Medical Adviser considers a physical or mental impairment to be permanent.
Civil Service Pension members can complete a nomination form naming who they would like to receive the death benefit lump sum. Under regulation 124 the scheme manager may pay the nominees, the personal representatives, or both, and where more than one nominee is named without proportions it decides the split. It is that discretion — not a trust — that lets the money be paid without a grant.
In practice a valid, up-to-date nomination is normally followed. If the member did not update the form after a change in circumstances, the scheme manager can still use its discretion to pay elsewhere.
The partner's pension is separate from the nomination form — it is paid to an eligible spouse, civil partner, or qualifying partner under the scheme rules.
See GOV.UK for the latest guidance on tax on pension death benefits.
Because the scheme manager has a discretion over who receives the lump sum, it does not normally form part of the estate for inheritance tax, and dependants' pensions do not either.
From 6 April 2027 most unused pension funds and death benefits come into the estate for inheritance tax. HMRC's policy paper of 26 November 2025 is explicit that all death in service benefits payable from a registered pension scheme are excluded from that change — from discretionary and non-discretionary schemes alike — as are dependants' scheme pensions from a defined benefit arrangement. The existing exemptions for death benefits passing to a surviving spouse or civil partner, and to registered charities, are kept. Personal representatives become liable for reporting and paying any inheritance tax due on the benefits that are in scope. Read our guide to pensions and inheritance tax from April 2027 for the latest position, and the inheritance tax rules for 2026/27.
If the deceased did not complete a nomination form, the scheme manager exercises its discretion. The lump sum will usually be paid to the surviving spouse or civil partner. If there is no eligible spouse and no dependants, it may be paid to the personal representatives, making it part of the estate and subject to the probate and estate administration process and potentially to inheritance tax.