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The Teachers' Pension Scheme is the public sector pension for teachers in England and Wales; Scotland has the separate Scottish Teachers' Pension Scheme run by the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, and Northern Ireland has its own. When a member dies — whether still teaching, out of service, or retired — the scheme may pay a death grant and an ongoing survivor's pension. Whether probate is needed turns on who the death grant is payable to.
In the great majority of cases, no — but not because the scheme is a discretionary trust. It is a statutory scheme, and Teachers' Pensions sets out a fixed order: "Your spouse, civil partner or surviving qualifying partner will automatically receive the death grant unless you've nominated someone else, in which case the nominee(s) will receive the death grant." Where there is such a person, no grant of probate is needed to release it.
If there is no spouse, civil partner, qualifying partner or nominee, Teachers' Pensions issues the payment to the estate. In that case, probate may be required before the funds can be released. If you are unsure whether probate is needed, check whether a nomination was in place.
A member cannot nominate a trust or a charity to receive the death grant, and where more than one person is nominated the member must have told Teachers' Pensions what share each is to receive.
A surviving spouse, civil partner or surviving qualifying partner is entitled to an adult survivor's pension. In the career average scheme the long-term pension is 37.5% of the pension the member had earned to the date of death. In the final salary scheme it is 1/160 of final average salary for each year of survivor benefits service. Members with benefits in both schemes get two calculations, paid together. The pension is taxable as income.
On a death in service, Teachers' Pensions also pays the adult beneficiary the member's salary for three months first — a short-term pension — before the long-term pension starts, and the career average part of the long-term pension is enhanced.
Children's pensions are payable to children under 23 who are in education, or who are incapacitated and were financially dependent on the member. Where there are no more than two children they receive half of any adult's pension; with more than two, the adult's pension is divided by the number of children.
An unmarried partner can qualify as a "surviving qualifying partner" if, for at least two years before the death, the couple lived together as if married or in a civil partnership, were free to marry, neither was living with a third person, and one was financially dependent on or interdependent with the other. Service from 1 January 2007 automatically counts towards those benefits.
If you are unsure whether the deceased was a member of the Teachers' Pension Scheme, contact their last employer or use the Pension Tracing Service.
Teachers' Pensions members can complete a nomination form naming who should receive the lump sum death grant. It is not an expression of wishes that gets weighed up: a valid nomination decides the point, and it displaces the spouse or civil partner who would otherwise receive the grant automatically.
That cuts both ways. A nomination that was never updated after a divorce or a remarriage still stands. If you are a bereaved spouse and there is an old nomination naming somebody else, the grant follows the nomination — ask Teachers' Pensions what is on file before assuming anything.
The survivor's pension is paid under the scheme rules to an eligible spouse, civil partner, qualifying partner or child — it is not affected by the nomination form.
For detailed guidance, see GOV.UK's page on tax on a private pension you inherit.
Where the death grant goes to a surviving spouse or civil partner, the ordinary spouse exemption applies. Where it is issued to the estate, it is assessed for inheritance tax along with everything else the member owned. Survivors' and children's pensions are not estate assets.
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 states that all death in service benefits payable from a registered pension scheme are excluded from that change — discretionary and non-discretionary schemes alike — as are dependants' scheme pensions from a defined benefit arrangement, and the spouse, civil partner and charity exemptions are kept. Personal representatives become liable for reporting and paying any inheritance tax due on whatever is in scope. Read our full guide to pensions and inheritance tax from April 2027 for the latest position, and review our inheritance tax guide for 2026/27.
If no nomination form is on file, Teachers' Pensions does not exercise a discretion — the scheme rules decide. The death grant is paid to the surviving spouse, civil partner or surviving qualifying partner. Only where there is none of those, and no nominee, is the payment issued to the estate.
If the death grant is paid to the estate, it becomes part of the deceased's assets for probate and estate administration purposes. It may then be subject to inheritance tax if the estate exceeds the probate and IHT thresholds.