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The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) covers council employees, school support staff, and other local authority workers. This page describes the LGPS in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own Local Government Pension Scheme under separate regulations, with different funds and different detail — do not read the figures below across to them. When an LGPS member dies, their family may be able to claim a death grant and an ongoing survivor's pension.
In most cases, no. The LGPS is a statutory scheme, not a trust, but it produces the same result: in the LGPS's own words, your local pension fund "has absolute discretion over who receives any lump sum death grant". Because the member had no right to direct the payment, it falls outside the estate, and the administering authority can pay a nominated beneficiary without a Grant of Probate.
If there is no nomination and nobody the fund considers appropriate, the death grant may be paid to the personal representatives. In that case, you may need to apply for probate before the funds can be distributed.
A change made from 1 April 2026 removed the upper age limit on paying a death grant, so one can now be paid where a member died after age 75. The change is backdated to deaths from 1 April 2014, and funds are working through past cases to identify beneficiaries who are now owed one, with interest for late payment.
A surviving spouse, civil partner, or eligible cohabiting partner receives an ongoing survivor's pension, paid for the rest of their life and taxable as income. The rate depends on when the pension was built up, not on a single percentage: generally 30.625% of the pension built up from April 2014, 37.5% of the pension built up between April 2008 and March 2014, and 50% of the pension built up before April 2008. Extra pension bought through additional pension contributions does not count towards it.
Changes made from 1 April 2026 recalculate some survivor pensions so that more pre-2014 service counts and treatment is equal regardless of sex, with arrears and interest paid where an increase is due. Some survivor pensions become payable for the first time. If you think this may affect a pension you already receive, tell the local pension fund.
An eligible child must be under 18, or under 23 and in full-time education or vocational training, or unable to work because of a physical or mental impairment. A pension is only paid to an eligible cohabiting partner if the member paid into the LGPS after 31 March 2008. Contact the local administering authority for the rules that apply in a particular case.
LGPS is administered locally, so you will need to contact the pension fund for the local authority where the deceased was employed. For example, a former Birmingham City Council employee would contact the West Midlands Pension Fund; a former Surrey County Council worker would contact the Surrey Pension Fund.
LGPS members can complete a nomination form (expression of wishes) to tell the administering authority who they would like to receive the death grant. This is an important document — the authority will consider it carefully when deciding who to pay.
The authority is not bound by the nomination. In the LGPS's own words, your local pension fund "has absolute discretion over who receives any lump sum death grant" — it can pay the people named on the form, the personal representatives, or anyone who appears to have been a relative or dependant. It is that statutory discretion, rather than any trust, that lets the money be paid without a grant of probate. In practice valid nominations are almost always followed. Issues arise when the form is out of date.
There is one exception worth knowing about: if the member left the LGPS before 1 April 2014 and paid additional voluntary contributions, the fund must pay any lump sum from the AVC pot to the estate.
The survivor's pension is not affected by the nomination form — it is paid automatically to an eligible spouse, civil partner, or qualifying cohabiting partner under the LGPS rules.
For the latest guidance, see GOV.UK's page on tax on a private pension you inherit.
Because the fund has discretion over who receives the death grant, it does not normally form part of the estate for inheritance tax. Survivors' and children's pensions are not estate assets either.
The April 2027 change is often reported as sweeping every pension into inheritance tax. It is narrower than that, and the LGPS is largely outside it. HMRC's policy paper of 26 November 2025 says all death in service benefits payable from a registered pension scheme are excluded — discretionary and non-discretionary schemes alike — and that dependants' scheme pensions from a defined benefit arrangement are excluded too. The LGPS is a defined benefit scheme. What comes into scope from 6 April 2027 is most unused pension funds, which for an LGPS member would mean any linked defined contribution savings rather than the LGPS benefits themselves. The spouse, civil partner and charity exemptions are kept, and personal representatives become liable for reporting and paying any inheritance tax due on what is in scope. Read our detailed guide to pensions and inheritance tax from April 2027, and review the inheritance tax rules for 2026/27 to understand the current position.
If there is no nomination form on file, the administering authority still has its discretion and can pay anyone who appears to have been a relative or dependant. The death grant will usually go to the surviving spouse or civil partner. Where there is nobody suitable, the grant may be paid to the personal representatives, making it part of the probate and estate administration process.